Aloft In The Airway
by HANAJIMA UCHIHA
Summary: Dib and Gaz turn their backs on humanity, choosing to assist Zim in the take over of Earth. How will they adjust to their new lives as a part of the Irken Empire?
1. Crazy House

**Hello everyone! **

**To begin, I wanted to challenge myself to write two full length fics at the same time, so here we are. The other fic is a Fairly OddParents, two totally different things, but by the same studio.**

**And yet, I didn't publish both at the same time.**

**So I got this idea from…Well…I don't know. I think it a combination of multiple fanfics and deviant art. **

**It's mostly going to be about Dib and Gaz adjusting to life with the Irkens. There is some minor ZAGR, but don't expect any juicy details, so don't complain if the detail is not intense. **

**THERE WILL BE NO LEMONS IN THIS FIC! There will be some mature situations and themes, not romantic ones, so I expect all of you to be mature readers. Remember, if you don't like the story you are welcome to leave at any time. **

**I'm currently sitting aboard Air New Zealand, 39,000 feet in the air, 2000 miles away from home with another 1000 to go before I land in London. **

**Wow, you read that? I thought I would have lost you after the third sentence! Good Job!**

**Summary: **Dib and Gaz turn their backs on humanity, choosing to assist Zim in the take over the earth. How will they adjust to their new lives as a part of the Irken Empire?

**Without further ado, I give you "Aloft In The Airway".**

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><p>Chapter One: Crazy House<p>

"Let me go!" Cried the black haired boy, struggling against his restraints. "I'm sane I tell you!"

His efforts were gone to waste as no one was around to hear him. Even if someone happened to be passing by, they would never hear his voice over the white padding of the room.

Yes, poor Dib had finally ended up in the crazy house.

The boy raged angrily inside his head, all the while trying to chew his way out of the straight jacket.

It started that morning as he woke up to his normal sixteen year old routine. He got dressed, woke up Gaz, and went down to eat breakfast before the bus came to get him for Hi Skool, but that was right about where things took a turn for the worst.

He sat there, munching on his cereal with Gaz when the men in white coats came barging in. Before he had a chance to react, he was already in the strait jacket.

His father approached him, a grim look on his face (though it was hard to tell through the goggles and tall collar of his lab coat.) "I'm sorry, son, but this is for your own good." He explained. "If I let this go on any longer, you'll endanger us all with that crazy alien talk of yours."

"Endanger!" Dib yelled angrily. "I'm saving your lives! If I'm not there to stop Zim, then we really will be in danger. Dad, don't you see he's an alien?"

Professor Membrane nodded solemnly. "Whatever you say son, whatever you say." It was too late for his poor insane boy.

The white coats began dragging him away to be hauled off to the asylum.

"Gaz!" Dib called out to his sister in desperation. "Tell them! Tell them the truth about Zim! Tell them he's an alien."

Gaz continued to eat her cereal in silence, never once acknowledging her brother's presence.

"Gaz!" Dib bellowed at the top of his lungs. Was his sister abandoning him too? It was too late; the truck was already driving away.

And that's how he found himself in this little predicament.

Oh, when he got out of here! First, he would have to stop whatever crazy scheme Zim had come up with, then he would have a good talk with his sister.

He gave up trying to break free, opting to just stare at the padding on the ceiling. Lockdown usually lasted for seventy two hours.

How much time had passed? He had no real way of telling, but it was probably a few hours, maybe even a day.

He cleared his head, not wanting to drift to thoughts that would only rile his anger. He took deep breaths, trying to lull himself into a sleep.

His snapped open as he heard a high pitched sound coming from the ceiling.

A red circle was beginning to form as the sound continued. Once the circle finished, the padding, and possibly the insulation, fell from the roof to reveal his arch nemesis.

"Zim!" He cried, sitting up as to not appear helpless. "Come to get me while I was down?"

"Foolish earth human!" The alien resounded. "As if I would ever do anything so cowardly. I have come to set you free! You may begin you endless praise of me now." Zim puffed out his chest, motioning with his hand for the boy to begin.

"You came to save me?" Dib asked cautiously. This seemed like a trap. "Why would you save me?"

"Because, I- AAAH!" The green Irken tumbled out of the ceiling and into the cell. "Girl-child! He yelled to the ceiling when he landed. "I will make you regret your actions!"

"Just shut up and get him okay. Your voice is making me nauseas." Gaz appeared above the two boys. She lowered a rope into the room as Zim undid the restraints on Dib's strait jacket.

Dib pulled the accursed restraint off and threw it across the room. He stood up; admiring his new found freedom with a couple of stretches. His eyes landed on the Irken alien as he flexed his hamstrings.

The alien had grown substantially over the last four years. He rivaled Dib's impressive height of 6'1, but what got Dib the most was the alien's physical transformation. As he grew taller he began resembling the leaders of the Irken race more and more.

For starters, his thumb began to swell until it fused with his arm, leaving him with two antennae like fingers on each hand coming from what appeared to be a girth of some sort. As he got taller, his waist grew narrower and narrower until it was reed thin. His neck came forward, giving the illusion of a humpback when it was really only in a relaxed position. Zim only straightened out his back and neck when he felt threatened or was giving a display of power.

Dib had only spoken to the Irken leaders once, but he clearly remembered what they looked like, and Zim was remarkably close.

"What are you gawking at, Dib-Stink?" Zim asked, annoyed that he did not get the praise he so rightfully deserved.

"How could people not believe you are an alien? No human is that thin!" Dib pointed to Zim's waist.

"What can I say? I am a master of disguise." Zim pulled off one of the fake eyes, revealing his true magenta one underneath.

"Enough talk!" Gaz yelled. "Grab the rope so we can get out of here before you two idiots get us caught!" She shook the rope, a subtle message for them to get a move on.

Dib grabbed the rope and climbed to the opening followed by Zim.

When they were all safely in the air shaft, Dib began venting his anger. "Gaz! How could you just stand there as I was carried away like that? What would happen to humanity if I wasn't there? Did you think of that? Huh? Huh? Did you?"

Gaz sent his a death glare, stopping him in his tracks. "If both of us are in the crazy house, no one would be able to come and save you. Did you think of that? Huh? Huh?" She mocked his train of thought.

Dib grumbled in silence. She was right. If they really were trapped, no one would come save them except for Zim, who would more likely show up to gloat than to do any actual saving. Speaking of Zim…

"Zim, may I ask what you are doing here, again?"

"Your terrifying sister told me you were here, so I came. Zim cannot take over the world if there is no challenge! All Irken soldiers face great peril and risk their lives to conquer their designated planet. Therefore Zim must have the Dib-beast there to pose as the obstacle!"

Dib rolled his eyes. Of course, he should have known. "I don't suppose you came here willingly, did you?"

"As if I would go out of my way for you! I would have left you there a few more days to suffer, but your terrifying sister forced me to come get you. Zim does this for his enemy and gets no words of praise!"

"Shut up!" Gaz put her arm back to stop the two boys from going any further.

There were soft shuffling sounds coming from the hallway underneath them. The nurses were talking about something; the voices were too soft for the group to hear.

With her index finger at her mouth, she motioned for the boys to continue quietly.

Unfortunately, Zim didn't quite understand the concept of air vents. He crawled over the grate, which couldn't support his weight. It fell through, but not before Zim grabbed Dib in an attempt to prevent the fall.

Gaz face palmed as the two boys slid out of the shaft and landed in the hall. Couldn't they do anything right?

"It's the crazy alien kid!" Cried one of the doctors in the hall. "Capture him."

Dib and Zim snapped into action. They made a mad dash for the exit.

"Zim, don't you have anything in that stupid pak of yours we can use?" Dib panted as they ducked to avoid a tranquillizer dart.

"You think I carry lasers in my pak?" Zim yelled back at him.

"Don't you?" Of all times for Zim not to be carrying some dangerous weapon.

"Stupid human! Zim does not keep his lasers in his pak. He keeps them in his pocket." Zim removed a small cube from his pocket and fiddled with it for a second. It expanded to a normal sized handheld laser.

Dib snatched it out of his hands, ignoring the alien's protests, and began firing at the nurses and doctors. He grabbed Zim's arm and pulled him up with him on top of the receptionist's desk. "Can you please help?"

"First you steal my laser, then you ask for my help? There better be some good praise for Zim after this!" Zim brought arm to his face and turned on his communicator watch. "Gir! Get over here and take care of the doctors!"

Instantaneously, the robot burst in through the roof and began bouncing around in several directions. "Aww! Do you guys wanna play tag?" He danced around in his dog suit. He latched onto an approaching doctor, grabbing a hold of his head. "You're it!"

One by one the doctors were knocked out as Gir 'tagged' them.

The two boys ran outside to find Gaz waiting for them in the car. "Come on!" She yelled through the open window. "Before the cops get here!"

Dib and Zim clambered into the back seat of the car. Moments later Gir bounced in through the open window, allowing Gaz to floor it.

"That was close." Dib sighed in relief. Then, he noticed something. "Wait! You can't be driving, you're fourteen!"

"Yeah, and I'm not supposed to be breaking patients out of insane asylums either. Now sit down and buckle up before I turn this car around!" Gaz made a sharp left, sending the two boys flying into the side of the car.

"The police are probably looking for the two of you earthlings." Zim pried Gir off of him. "Head to my base. We can give those pathetic law enforcers the slip."

Gaz made a U-turn, smirking as she saw the boys fly in the rear view mirror.

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><p>Dib lay on the roof, staring at the night ask above him. He wasn't really thinking about anything, just listening to the police sirens ringing throughout the neighborhood.<p>

Man, this was a depressing town. It was filthy, kids were always left unattended, and the sun never shined. The thick layer of smog always kept the city enveloped in a cloud of dark grey. And people wondered why the city had a high rate of birth defects.

His line of sight was interrupted when Zim stood over him, Mini-Moose sitting on top of his head. The Moose jumped off the alien's head and landed in Dib's lap with a squeak.

"Dib-Creature, we need to discuss an important matter." Zim didn't have his disguise on, allowing his eyes to give off a slight glow in the night.

"What is it?" Dib asked, sitting upright.

"Zim will be frank." His voice was surprisingly soft. "The armada will be arriving tomorrow. I want you and your sister to join me in taking over the human species."

Dib stared at the alien as if he had grown a third head. "You want me to help you conquer my own people? Just like that? I've been trying to expose you for the past four years, and you expect me to join forces with you? What use could you even have with me?"

"You hold a good amount of information on the human species in the overly large head of yours. Information the Irken Empire can use. You are well versed in Irken technology seeing as you've bested my plans several times and have even managed to program Tak's ship."

Dib was about to protest when he was cut off by the alien. "Do not try to fool Zim! Zim knows you still have the ship. So what will it be? Will you aid the great Zim, or will you be enslaved along with the rest of your pathetic planet?"

"Zim!" Dib stood up suddenly, accidently knocking the purple moose out of his lap and onto the tiles of the roof. "Oh, sorry Mimi-Moose." He picked up the small creature and let him go in the air to drift freely. He paused a moment, as if lost in thought. "Oh yeah… Zim! Why should I? Give me one good reason why I should help you and not head back to my lab this instant to try and stop you?"

"Because you're underappreciated here, Dib." Zim smirked. "You can warn all the humans and government officials, but will anyone believe you? No. Your own father won't believe you. All your genius is going to waste here. Come with me to Irk. Your intelligence will be put to good use. You're a tall critter; you will get the respect you deserve."

Dib wanted to retort, but he knew everything Zim said was true. The other people had seen Zim without his human disguise and still refused to believe he was an extraterrestrial. How dense could they be? It made him so angry. So angry!

They deserved to be enslaved for locking him in a crazy house! His own father threw him into a crazy house!

"What about Gaz?" Dib's expression softened. "What's going to happen to her?"

"Yes, the Dib-Sibling. She is a fertile human, is she not?"

"Yeah, I guess. What does that have anything to do with the Irken take over?" Dib was genuinely confused. Being fertile wasn't all that big a deal. Most females could give birth, but whether that child would be healthy was a completely different issue.

"As you know, Irkens are sterile. Years of test-tube babies has taken away the female's ability to reproduce naturally. If we present your terrifying sibling to the Tallest as a fertile being, she will be welcomed instantaneously." Zim sounded so proud of his great scheme. He knew the Dib-Creature would not leave his younger sister behind, forcing him to come up with a reason as to why she would be useful to the empire. She was tall compared to the average Irken, even at her human average of 5'2, but unfortunately, there were still taller male Irken. She had to have a purpose. No Irken was allowed to exist and not serve the empire in some way. "Irkens allows species from conquered planets to rise through the ranks, but it rarely happens. None have been tall enough or willing to abandon their native species."

Dib thought about it. Present Gaz as a fertile human? "You want to present Gaz as a fertile female. Doesn't that mean…"

"Yes." Zim nodded. "She will eventually be expected to carry an Irken child. This is the easiest way out for you, Dib. If you say no, you will be enslaved and probably die in a labor camp. Think of your sister. You wouldn't want her to be forced into a life of hard labor, would you?" Zim didn't really want to, but he had to play the sibling card. Dib might have been willing to die himself for the humans, but he wouldn't let someone else die, especially not his sister. "Bedsides," Zim added. "You're wanted now. You can try to save the humans, but as soon as they see you, you're going right back to the crazy house. Your sister will be sent to jail for helping you escape."

There was a long pause.

"They're coming tomorrow, you say?" Dib asked.

Zim nodded.

"Where is Gaz now?"

"Base!" Zim cried to the floor of the roof. A small computer came up through a hole in the roof. "Where is the female human?"

"Subject is watching T.V in the house." The computer droned in its annoyed voice before returning to the base and closing up the hole it came from.

Dib didn't answer. He sat back down on the roof, looking over the city this time.

Zim took a seat next to him, silently watching him. What was left to ponder over? The choice seemed pretty clear. Or was this still about his sister? "I'm sure Gaz will come around to the idea. There are lots of charming Irken invader bachelors, though none as charming as me. She'll fall for one of them."

Dib finally turned back to Zim, taking Mini-Moose from the air again and stroking the fur on his back. "We'll tell Gaz, but I want you to not tell her about the fertile part. She's just as good as I am when it comes to Irken technology, so she'll buy it if we tell her that is the reason."

Zim couldn't deny it. The girl had broken into his base so many times now it was hardly a surprise to come home and find her raiding his fridge. She usually came along with Dib, mostly because he would drag her along, so she knew her way around. Wait. He said 'tell Gaz'. "Is that a yes?"

Dib let out a loud and long sigh. "Yes."

"Perfect! You won't regret this decision Dib-Human." In his excitement, he draped himself over Dib.

"Okay, get off me!" Dib elbowed him in his stretched out squeedly spooch, watching as he doubled over from the pain.

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><p>"My Tallest!" Zim gave a salute to the two Irken leaders standing before him on the screen. "I present to you the two humans I spoke of earlier."<p>

Red and Purple's faces came closer to the screen as the examined Dib and Gaz. They nodded in approval at what they saw.

"Oooh, they're tall." Purple chimed.

"As tall as you are Zim, but not as tall as us." Red shoved purple out of the screen to get a better view. "Introduce yourselves!" He ordered.

Zim had previously prepped Dib and Gaz on what to expect, and how to answer. The Tallest were their leaders now, they had to obey.

"Dib, my Tallest." He gave a salute.

"Gaz…my Tallest." Gaz hated acknowledging the fact others had powers. She was only going along with this because Zim and Dib promised her all the junk food she could ever want to eat. She gave a half-hearted salute.

Purple shoved Red out of the screen. "Gaz, eh? Your hair matches my eyes!" Purple was pushed out of the monitor's line of vision once more.

"Shut up, she doesn't want to talk to you." Red yelled at the fallen Irken.

Their bickering continued on for a few minutes until Zim cleared his throat, reminding the two of them of their presence. They straightened out their robes and smoothed out their antennas.

"Right." Red spoke up. "Welcome to the Irken Empire. Your formal roles will be assigned to you when we meet you in person."

"You're ready for tomorrow, right?" Purple asked.

"Yes, my Tallest. We wait on your signal." Zim's confidence was clearly evident in his voice.

"Excellent. Rest up, Zim. We need your pak at full power for tomorrow. Farewell." Red's face disappeared from the screen as it went black.

"That was GREAT!" Zim yelled out. "All we have to do is wait for the armada to arrive and the earth is ours." He rubbed his hands together with a menacing laugh.

Dib didn't share the enthusiasm.

Was this really the right choice?

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><p><strong>And we've got our first chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! <strong>

**So, this is going to be a little ficlet, about ten chapters, just to give me some practice writing. I hope you'll stick around. **

**Review Please!**


	2. The Invasion

**Welcome back!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own invader Zim or other relating characters.**

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><p>Chapter Two: The Invasion<p>

"Wake up, wake up! The Armada has arrived!" Zim practically bounced off the walls in excitement. "It's finally happening!"

"Now?" Dib snapped up from his sleep on the living room floor. Gaz had taken the couch, so he did not really get a choice as to where he would be sleeping the night. "It's only four in the morning!"

"The perfect time to attack. When you humans will least notice!" Zim grabbed Dib's arm and half-dragged him into the garbage can elevator.

"Zim, you do realize it's a different time on the other parts of the planet, right?" Dib yawned as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"Yes, yes, whatever you say." Zim was too excited to care. They would all face defeat now, regardless of whether they were just waking up or just about to go to sleep.

"Gaz, wake up!" Dib yelled out to his sister as he was being dragged away.

"Five more minutes…" Gaz mumbled; Gir secured tightly under her arm. The robot had snuck under Gaz' blanket at some unknown point in the night, wanting to cuddle.

Zim and Dib rode the chute down to the lab. As soon as they stepped out, the lab came to life and the screen illuminated the faces of the Tallest Irken leaders.

"My Tallest, everything is in place! Shall we launch the attack?" Zim almost jumped out of his skin as he asked.

"Attack beginning in," Red counted off "Five, four, three, two, one. Irken soldiers, move out!"

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><p>From outside of the base, alien ships could be seen in the night sky. Of course, most of the insomniacs awake thought nothing off the ships in the sky. They were probably just weather balloons or a planned light show. Unfortunately, those guesses were all but wrong as beams shot out of the ships. From those beams marched out Irken aliens, Robots, and Battle Units.<p>

From inside the base, Dib watched the carnage unfold on the many monitors as people finally realized what was really going on.

The humans fought with everything they had. Mothers grabbed rolling pins and kitchen knives, wielding them as weapons. Fathers whipped out the guns, firing at anything unearthly, but it did little good. The Irken armor was too advanced for simple pieces of steel to penetrate.

Some humans simply gave up. They put their hands in the air and allowed themselves to be handcuffed by a binding electrical rope.

Then, there were those who wouldn't quit. When the found themselves trapped in all corners, they turned the guns on themselves. They would never surrender!

"Isn't it beautiful?" Zim asked Dib, not turning away from the monitor.

Dib was repulsed by the sight, but in a strange way, it was beautiful. Now, the humans called out for him, wanting his knowledge, wanting to be protected.

It was too late.

"Yeah, it is."

"The best part has not yet been seen! This is occurring on every human city on the globe. Complete global domination!" Zim threw his fists into the air as he cheered. "If only I had more monitors. Oh well, now, we must prepare. See to it that Gaz has risen; it is time to pack up the base and leave for home!"

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><p>Dib stepped into his house cautiously. In the excitement of the onslaught, he had completely forgotten about his father. If the man had made a more lasting impression on his life, he wouldn't have had this problem in the first place.<p>

"Dad?" He called out into the dark house.

No response.

He stepped in the house, Gaz close behind. "Do you think he's still here?" Dib asked.

He couldn't be sure whether she heard him or not, but she made no indication, instead walking to the kitchen.

There was the sound of plates moving and cabinets being opened; amidst the chaos and gore, his sister was getting something to eat.

And they wanted to throw him in the Crazy House!

Dib wandered into the lab downstairs. "Dad!" He tried once more only to receive the same response, or lack thereof. Had his father run off or had he been captured?

Dib turned the lights on to a horrible sight.

There, hanging from the pipes on the ceiling, was his father.

A scream escaped his lips as his eyes fell on the blue, twisted, mangled, neck of his father. Sure, he was angry at him for what he had done, but he didn't want him dead!

"Dib, did you find him?" Gaz' voice drifted from upstairs, having heard the shout.

Dib quickly snapped the lights off and ran upstairs, slamming the door shut behind him before his sister could come down. "No, I just stubbed my toe. I think he ran away, there's nothing down there."

Gaz shrugged. It didn't really matter if her father was alive or not. She made her way up to her room to pack a few essentials before leaving for good.

Dib sighed in relief as soon as she was out of sight. He didn't want his father to see Gaz' emotionless state, even if he was already dead. He knew the girl would feel no remorse over her father's death due to the fact she felt no real emotion for the man when he was alive.

His suicide was Dib's fault; the least he could do was ease his transitions into the next world.

Dib cut the lifeless body down carefully. He laid Dr. Membrane down on the floor and took his lab coat off, using it to cover the front of his contorted face.

That would have to do, he needed to pack.

There would be no proper burial.

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><p>On his way out of the house, Dib poured a trail of gasoline behind him.<p>

"Would you like the honor?" Dib held a lit match to his sister, knowing she would never turn down the opportunity to set something on fire.

"With pleasure." Gaz took the match and threw it into the gasoline trail.

The gasoline lit up, sending the whole house ablaze.

Gaz watched the house burn to the ground with a smirk on her face. Little did she know, the fire served as her father's funeral pyre. She simply thought it was Dib's way of saying goodbye to his life on earth. He was the kind of guy who would need some kind of a sentimental thing like that.

Dib clenched his fists, trying to keep the tears from spilling. He didn't want Gaz to realize the real reason he had handed her the match; that he couldn't bring himself to do it, to say goodbye to everything he had ever known, even if he had hated it.

Once the house had collapsed and the smoke became unbearable, Dib turned away. "Let's get going."

* * *

><p>"Welcome, newest Irken recruits!" Purple shouted enthusiastically.<p>

There was a round of applause and cheering from the Irken aliens gathered in the hall. They cheered, mostly out of respect to the two tall creatures standing beside their beloved leaders.

"We hereby declare the two of you Irken soldiers of the Taller Ranks. Welcome aboard." Red pinned a military badge to the front of their clothing, giving each of them a word of congratulations. "It's nice to have you aboard."

"Now, we must thank the Irken invader who brought Earth, the wonderful snack filled planet, into the Irken Empire's clutches." Red waved Zim over.

Zim, his chest puffed out with pride, strolled over to the Irken leader. His face held a huge goofy grin on it as he was given his own militaristic badge. He jumped in front of the audience, soaking in their applause and praise, paying no attention to the few murmurs of displeasure.

"Doughnuts are being served at the concession stands, have a good night everybody!" Purple motioned for the pad they stood on to be lifted. It rose into the air, stopping a floor above them in the prep chamber.

Gaz wasted no time climbing off, heading out of the room to find the aforementioned doughnuts.

"Gaz, wait-" Dib stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Dib, why don't you join us? We can discuss your abilities and your newfound rank." Red offered, but mostly demanded.

"Uh…" Dib looked to Zim for help. The Irken was nodding his head furiously in a 'yes' manner. "Of course." He followed the two Tallest as they led him to a table back in a private lounging room.

"Have a seat." Red patted a chair at one of the tables before turning to a much shorter group of Irkens. "Hey, we're going to need three drinks over here!" He yelled out to one of the sever drones.

Dib sat down, watching the drone place a can with the Irken symbol on it in front of him.

"Zim tells us you are great with Irken technology. Tell us what you know." Purple folded his arms, getting comfortable in his seat.

"And how you came to know it." Red added on.

"A few years ago I realized you guys used the same operating system as me, so it's been relatively easy to hack into your systems. From there I've read up on your blue prints for everything from voot cruisers to the massive right here." Dib continued, going into specifics from the type of material used to make the engine, all the way to the planet mined for fuel to keep the fleet in the air.

"That's very impressive. Tell me, how did you read the blue prints if they are in the Irken language, especially the one for the massive, which in the Vortian language." Red asked skeptically.

"I taught myself using Zim's personal papers; he had, and still has, a tendency to write in Irken on his school papers. I've always suspected your language's alphabet could be translated into English seeing as you do speak it, so I broke his writing down until I had a translatable alphabet. From there I downloaded your blue-prints onto my computer and translated everything by hand. The words are still English, just not written in it."

"What about Vortian? I can tell you that their alphabet and words do not translate to English," Purple pointed out. "Nor do they speak it."

"As for that, I can't help you. I got the document from Zim's computer, already in Irken. He must have translated it himself."

Red and Purple turned to one another and began speaking in a different tongue.

Dib was silent as he listened to the Tallest speak in the strange language. He was about to break into a sweat, this whole business of siding with another species was all too intimidating. But, his couldn't help but feel curious. What were they speaking? Native Irken? Why weren't the other aliens speaking it? They weren't talking about him, were they? They probably were, that was a given. He just wanted to know if it was good or bad.

Red noticed Dib's discomfort. The poor human must have been a nervous wreck by now. "Dib, you haven't taken a sip of your something wrong?"

"No, not al all, I just forgot it was there." He picked up the can and took a swig, only to spit the contents out right away.

It was awful!

Worse than awful!

It tasted like motor oil, octane, sulfur, and methane all mixed together into one disastrous mess of a drink.

A coughing fit ensued as Dib tried his best to get the taste out of his mouth. He wiped his tongue furiously with a napkin, trying anything to make the bitterness go away.

The Irken tallest watched the scene with a sense of mirth, holding in their laughter. Most aliens reacted this way to the Irken drink, _mescal_. It was a delicacy; even normal Irkens had trouble adjusting to its bitter taste.

"Don't worry about it, you'll get used to the taste eventually." Purple couldn't hide the smile on his face.

Red nudged Purple, motioning for him to stop with the ridiculous grin. "Anyways, we called you here for a reason. Your sister. As the tallest female, it will be normal for Irken of higher standing to try and court her."

Dib sighed. "You wouldn't happen to mean yourselves, would you?" Did they really have to beat around the bush?

"Exactly. So tell us, what are human courting rituals like?" Red interjected.

Dib thought for a moment. This was Gaz they were talking about. She would probably tear a guy's head off with her bare hands before being 'courted'. Not to mention all respectable forms of interaction between males and females had all but disappeared on earth. "We don't really have any. It's more of a thing you have to prove. If you can impress the girl, she'll consent, otherwise, tough luck." It wasn't a complete lie. Most, if not all, courting procedures vanished with time. Even the Valentine's day tradition of giving cards and flowers were replaced by gorging on meats. But, trying to impress Gaz? Good luck with that!

"I see." They said in unison disappointment.

"Regardless, I'm still willing to give it a try. It would be a great honor to have such a tall smeet." Red's determination was undeniable.

Dib couldn't help but feel uneasy. It's not like Gaz needed sheltering, but she was still his little sister! Then again, these two were the leader of the race they swore their loyalty to. It was almost like hooking her up with royalty, it was hooking her up with royalty. Except for the fact that they weren't human and all.

No big, right?

He vaguely pondered how the reproduction process would work between two different species…

"I've got to…got to…" Dib got up and walked away without finishing his excuse. This was coming way too fast. He walked out of the lounging room, paying no mind to the confused Tallest he left behind.

* * *

><p>"Zim! There you are!"<p>

Zim turned to the sound of his name being called. He himself had finished his lunch, not being lucky enough to dine with the Tallest he had settled for the normal cafeteria. Being a successful, and now tall, Irken Invader, his popularity had spiked. The table he sat at remained filled with Irkens who wished to speak with him, some who just wanted the chance to say they sat with a member of the Taller Ranks.

Yet, we digress.

"Dib, how did it go?" Zim asked, eager to know what the Tallest had shared with the human boy. Anything about him perhaps?

"Well…" Dib was a bit reluctant to speak in front of the twenty or so Irken whom Zim shared a table with. "Can I have a private chat with Zim, please?" He asked the curious on lookers.

The shorter Irken cleared the table in a flash. Some of the slightly-taller-than-average ones braved staying a moment longer, but left too as they noticed Dib getting impatient.

"Man, I could get used to this." Dib seated himself at the now empty table. Having more power simply because of his height in a society where the average was far below four feet. What more could he ask for?

"What was discussed? Tell me!" Zim demanded.

"Oh, right!" Dib snapped out of his power high. "Zim, I'm a little uncomfortable with this whole fertility thing and Gaz. The Tallest asked me how to court her."

"I fail to see the problem. Female Irken can only dream of being courted by a Tallest."

"I guess it's mostly me…being human and all…" Dib played with a loose strand of his hair. "I guess my brotherly instinct is just kicking in. It doesn't feel right."

"You worry too much, human. We went over this already. Besides, Gaz will have a while to decide whom she wants to be with. What is the phrase your species uses? 'There are plenty of fish in the sea.' Gaz has lots of Irkens to choose from." The relaxed tone of the alien matched his precise action, which was currently peeling some kind of strange fruit. "You know, it would be a great honor on little Gaz' behalf."

Dib rolled his eyes. "What it is with your kind and honor?"

* * *

><p>"Hey Gaz! Whatcha up to?" Dib asked as he entered the girl's personal quarters.<p>

"Not now, I'm in the zone." Gaz sat at the large computer screen, her Game Slave IV hooked up to it. She rapidly mashed her keyboard, unleashing a flurry of combos.

Yup, same old Gaz. What a relief.

Dib stood next to her watching the monitor. Gaz didn't seem bothered by anything; in fact she seemed to be taking this adjustment much better than him.

"Dib, can I help you?" She asked, irritated that he was hovering over her like that. It was throwing her game off.

"No, no, just wanted to look around." He stuck to his explanation and looked over her room. She hadn't done much personalization. The room still looked as if it had not been issued for use except for the strewn suitcase shoved into the corner of the room.

As he walked to her window, something stood out.

A box was placed at the end of the computer's control panel. It had clearly been opened, but the contents remained inside.

Dib reached for the box and pulled it into his lap as he seated himself on her bed. He removed the tissue paper from inside of it to find a necklace with an unnaturally large gem.

The gem had quite a shine and almost a blue tint to it. It seemed so familiar! Clearly it was an earthanoid object, seeing as precious metals were not mined for on Irk, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

As soon as he held the chain to it, it hit him.

The Hope Diamond! Someone had gifted Gaz the Hope Diamond!

"Gaz, what is this?"

Gaz paused her game to look at the object Dib was referring to. "That? I don't know, something weird. Red gave it to me when he showed me my room." She resumed her game once more.

Red? How did he know humans considered it valuable?

"Gaz, this is the Hope Diamond. Like the one they keep in the museum." Dib stated, making sure she knew just how valuable it was. "The one worth millions of dollars."

Gaz tapped her foot, trying to keep one eye on the game and one on Dib. "Yes. I'm not stupid, I can see that. What about it? I don't think earth money is worth all that much up here."

Dib let out a loud laugh, feeling his worry fly off of his chest. The Tallest didn't stand a chance.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, nothing at all."

A remote flew throughout the air, nailing Dib in the forehead, knocking him off the bed.

"Then get out, you ruined my game!"

* * *

><p><strong>So I hope I haven't lost some of you guys, you totally knew this was coming.<strong>

**Who caught the "Brave New World" reference? **

**Review Please!**


	3. The Almighty Tallest Miyuki

**You lucky ducks get an early update only because I'm going into surgery and won't have recovered enough to post this in time. **

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Invader Zim or other relating characters.**

* * *

><p>Chapter Three: The Almighty Tallest Miyuki<p>

Gaz stood before a rather impressive portrait of an Irken. She couldn't help but stare, the Irken was so beautiful it was breathtaking. She had been standing there for more than twenty minutes, easily.

The portrait was over fifty feet high, hanging right in the center of the Taller Rank's common room to be appreciated by all.

Regardless of the size of the portrait, Gaz could tell she had been tall in real life. She had the most amazing blue eyes and Tallest robes in the same stunning blue color. Her antennae were curled at the ends like most female Irken and her entire person carried a certain air of majesty.

Gaz wasn't one to sit and appreciate good art, but she could make this one exception.

"You like the painting?" Red asked, catching her by surprise.

He must have approached very quietly for she did not hear the rustling of his robes. Thanks to her trained instincts, she did not jump up in surprise as others would have. She simply nodded in response, not even looking his way. "Yes. Who is this?"

"The Almighty Tallest Miyuki. She was the very first Tallest, the greatest ruler of the Irken race." Red gazed at the portrait with admiring eyes.

"What's her story?" As in, why does she get a giant portrait?

"Tallest Miyuki was born to a human mother and an Irken father."

Gaz raised an eyebrow in mild surprise. "Really now? How long ago was this?"

"Oh, I'd say about eight or nine hundred years ago. Her father had been a member of the Taller Ranks and the first Irken to develop a spacecraft that could travel across galaxies. Most Irken did not believe his ship worked, so to prove them wrong he decided to make a journey to another galaxy and bring back evidence. He set off and two weeks later, he returned to Irk with a human female."

Gaz nodded, indicating for him to continue with his story.

"So this Irken soldier took charge of the human female. She spoke English, not a word of Native Irken, so it was up to him to educate her and teach her the ways of the Irken. Irken technology was so much more advanced, though not nearly as advanced as it is now. I'd say it was slightly better than what is currently on Earth. Anyways, the female simply could not understand it, unlike you of course. I hear you can make any piece of Irken technology bend to your will."

The purple-haired girl chose to ignore the compliment, not wanting to have to thank anyone.

Red was not sure if Gaz was even listening to him at this point, but chose to go on. "At some point, the Irken solider-"

"Don't you know his name?"

"No, we do not. Records from before Miyuki's rule were destroyed in the Great War. This story has been passed down orally, so some things may have been changed, but the Irken's name was lost some time long ago."

"The guy who created the one piece of technology needed to achieve your goal of universal domination and you can't remember his name? Go on."

"Miyuki never told us his name! Anyway, the Irken solider and the human female reproduced and produced the first Half-Irken, Miyuki, but as you can see, Irken genetics are much stronger than the humans'. This was a feat in its own because Irkens had lost the ability to reproduce naturally millennia ago thanks to the embryo farms. Thanks to her mother's genes, Miyuki grew to be the tallest Irken around. When Miyuki was in the adolescent stage of her smeeting, the Great War began."

* * *

><p><em>Miyuki held onto the railings of her house on Irk. The explosions resonating from outside were causing tremors throughout the entire planet, making if difficult to steady herself. "Mother!" She yelled, trying to find her family. She steadied herself against the walls, waiting for the tremor to stop before continuing.<em>

"_Mother?" She stepped into the laboratory part of her household. No one. Leaving the room, she stopped in the middle of the hallway and played with a control panel. A door opened directly above her and a wring ladder fell from the ceiling. She climbed the ladder to the attic of her housing unit, knowing her mother often came up here to read in silence. She almost lost her grip on the way up as the ladder was slick with a strange red substance she had never seen before. It must have been from her father's experiments, so she paid it no mind. _

_Pulling herself into the attic, she gasped at the sight in front of her. _

_Her mother's body was trapped underneath a massive bookshelf. She must have been sitting underneath it when the first bombs had dropped._

"_Hold on, Mother. I'll get you out of there." Miyuki used her strength to pull the bookcase off her mother's small frail body and push it off to the side where it could cause no more damage. _

_Her mother remained motionless, however, with a pool of the strange red substance she found on the ladder rungs surrounding her. _

"_Mother?" _

_No response._

_Miyuki turned the body over. Her mother had clearly been injured. _

_It was a lot worse than she thought. Her mother's face had been smashed in with the red liquid pouring out of every crevice on her face. _

_The red liquid, it must have been her mother's life liquid. It wasn't green like the Irken goo which ran through her own veins, but it must have served the same purpose. Her mother had lost too much to survive. _

_She had to find her father to tell him. Looking outside, Miyuki saw the streets filled with Irkens running around in a panic. Some were throwing stones as the invading aliens, others were doing their best to find shelter from the bombings._

_There was no way she would be able to maneuver through a crowd like that! Adrenaline kicked in as she tried to think of some way to contact her father._

_The calling unit! Of course, why hadn't she thought of that? _

_She ran back to the laboratory and dialed the number for her father's workplace, hoping the lines hadn't gone down. Luck was on her side as the screen illuminated to show her father's face. "Father, Mother, I can't, she, the bombing, red liquid-" It all came out in a jumbled mess of English._

"_Miyuki! I cannot understand what you're saying. Native Irken, my dear, I cannot understand your mother's language."_

"_Mother's dead." She shifted her tongue to Irken. Her mother had raised her entirely on English, she only learned Native Irken in the educational unit. Sometimes she forgot that others did not share the language she did with her mother. "I'm going to see what I can do." She shut the screen off, ignoring her father's protests to remain in the safety of her housing unit._

* * *

><p><em>Outside, the invading aliens growled and shouted to the Irkens in some strange language which not even Miyuki could understand. They had dropped papers all over the city, typed into Native Irken, but it didn't help Miyuki. She couldn't read Native Irken, only speak it.<em>

_She slipped into a back alley, stopping short when she noticed an invading alien ushering a group of smeet into a corner. He had the sharp end of his weapon pointed at them, waving it around menacingly while shouting something. _

_Instinct kicked in as Miyuki came up behind him and grabbed the weapon out of his hand. Without missing a beat, she ran it through his body again and again until she discovered his weak point. Their main processing unit was located in their lower backs. This worked well as sneak attacks could also double as lethal blows._

"_Run home to your assigned parental units." She ordered the frightened smeets. They didn't need to be told twice, scurrying away faster than she had ever seen any physically enhanced smeet run._

_Once they were out of sight, she slowly fell to the ground. "Oh, God." She didn't know what that phrase meant, but she had heard her mother say it when she was horrified at something. "What have I done?" She was not meant to be a military Irken; she had not been programmed for that. She had not been programmed for anything. The Irken motherboard had no idea what to do with her, so it left her blank. _

_Blank…_

* * *

><p><em>Miyuki kicked the door of the auditorium down. She marched to the stage, pushing everyone out of her way. <em>

"_Everyone, I demand your attention." She shouted in Native Irken over the buzz of worry that filled the hall._

_The room quieted instantaneously. No had ever heard Miyuki shout. When added with her size, it was very intimidating._

"_This is our planet! We cannot allow them to take it without a fight! Where is your Irken pride? Are we not the greatest species alive? Are we not able to travel across the galaxies? Are we not able to produce some of the healthiest smeets? We can take these aliens down easily!"_

_There was uncomfortable muttering passing through her audience. Fight against those aliens? The Irken had advanced technology, but not in the war department. The planets around them were barren and lifeless, leaving them with no need for a military. Any Irken programmed as a military officer simply served as a member of the police force. _

"_Who are you to call a rebellion?" Shouted a fellow Irken. "You are not a military unit; you cannot lead us into battle if you do not know how to fight! The motherboard did not select you to lead the Irken race."_

_Shouts of agreement followed. She would lead them to their death with her inexperience, not to mention her lack of proper military training._

"_I shall join you!" A voice boomed from the crowd._

_Spork rose up from the crowd of frightened Irken to fight. Spork himself was a tall Irken, second only to Miyuki thanks to a genetic defect that occurred in his embryo unit. How could he stand by and let a female fight for his planet without joining in. As a tall Irken, his dignity would have been at stake. "There is no shame in dying for your planet."_

_Slowly, very slowly, other Irken stood up to join the resistance._

* * *

><p><em>Miyuki quietly peered over the stack of shipment units she was hiding behind. The invading force's mother-ship stood a few hundred feet away from their current space.<em>

_Everyone knew the one weakness to an alien force was their motherboard. If they could destroy it, there would be no one to give orders. At that point, the soldiers would be sitting ducks, knowing not if they should run or fight._

_As soon as the guard turned his back on her, Miyuki charged. Thanks to her height, she was able to run longer distances much quicker than the others._

_By the time the rest of the resistance had arrived, she had already taken out the guards for the central ship. _

"_Raid the ship! Take all healing units and nourishment units you can find. Take their weapons and kill anyone on board! Spork and I will head for the motherboard!"_

_The Irkens stormed with a battle cry, following her exact orders. They used the heal units to restore their fallen comrades. The sent the nourishment units out to the smeets who remained hidden throughout the city. They left no one standing._

* * *

><p><em>Miyuki and Spork used the spear like weapons to force the door to the control room open. The invading forces put too much faith in their technology; there was no one to guard the heart of their system!<em>

_They gave each other a knowing smirk. Together, the lifted the spears and jammed it into the brains of the entire operation._

_Whirring noises were heard throughout the ship as the power went off. Slowly, the ship's functions began shutting off one by one. _

_A loud cry of victory came from the Irkens as the stormed out of the ship to take back their planet. _

_Miyuki wiped her forehead, letting herself to fall to the ground. This was all too much for one day. _

"_Feel the pressure yet?" Spork joked, offering his hand for her to take._

_She chuckled a little before allowing him to help her up. "Let's get going, we still need to take care of those who will try to flee."_

* * *

><p><em>Several things happened that day. <em>

_The Irken rejoiced at their victory, the smeets ran around the streets playing games, Irkens were reunited with their fellow Irken companion unit, and for the first time, the planet was united under a single ruler, The Almighty Tallest Miyuki. _

_Her height made her brave and fearless. It also made her one of the strongest Irken warriors. Soon, everyone began revering her for her height._

_It was unanimous decision to make Miyuki the leader of the Irken species. The motherboard reprogrammed her with all the traits of a leader and of a military expert, giving her full reign over the planet's military force._

_Not all was happy._

_Miyuki had been the one to discover her father's body, blown to pieces and spread out over the common laboratory. The aliens had done this! _

_Now both her parental units were dead. _

_They said her sobs could be heard for weeks on end, even from the outside of her house._

* * *

><p><em>Some months after the invasion, Spork presented himself to Miyuki as a possible candidate for a companion unit.<em>

_Miyuki had not applied for a companion unit at the time, as she was still technically a smeet (she had yet to complete her adolescent phase) but agreed under once condition._

_She wanted the head of an alien. Not just any alien, the head of the invading alien force that had killed her father. _

_For two years, Spork had disappeared. Everyone had presumed he failed his mission and had killed himself rather than return to Miyuki empty handed._

_Strangely, one day, an Irken space craft crash landed in front of the Irken Capitol. Miyuki had rushed outside to see what the commotion was about, hoping it was not another invasion._

_From the ship, out came Spork, beaten and battered. "Miyuki, I have brought you what you desired the most. Revenge." From his pack, he removed the severed head of the supreme alien. _

_Miyuki stared at the head in disbelief. She them rushed to Irken Spork and embraced him. Her smeeting period had ended a year ago, so within a week, she had become the companion unit of the second tallest Irken, Spork._

* * *

><p>"What happened after that?" Gaz asked.<p>

"Miyuki discovered her mother had not only given her height, but also the ability to reproduce naturally." Red paused for a moment. "She gave birth to two children. Eventually she launched Impending Doom One, but Zim messed that up." He rolled his eyes at the last part.

"How'd she die?"

"An experiment gone wrong in one of the laboratories. The experiment went on a rampage and ate her. The Almighty Tallest Spork took the position after her, but only ruled for one day. The experiment came back and also ate him."

"Hey, Red! I'm here!" Purple announced in an unnecessarily loud voice from across the very long hallway.

"Alright, let's get going." Red gave him an annoyed look. "Goodbye Gazelene, it was nice talking to you."

"You guys just stood there talking in front of Mom's picture?" Purple said, as he walked away with Red.

Gaz stopped for a moment. Mom? He just called Miyuki mom? Wait, Red said she had given birth to two children.

Two…

It seemed the phrase "It's a small world" was also applicable on this planet.

* * *

><p><strong>I wanted to try coming up with a life story for Miyuki! She looked so pretty! <strong>

**I know this is probably a long shot from what actually happened, like a looooooooooooon shot, like the ship is sailing in the complete opposite direction of Canon Land, but it was fun to write.**

**I hope you had just as much fun reading it!**

**Review please!**


	4. Tak

**Yay, here we bring in one of my favorites!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Invader Zim or other relating characters.**

* * *

><p>Chapter Four: Tak<p>

"Good, you're right on time. Have a seat." Red motioned for Zim and Dib to take the two chairs directly in front of him. "There is something I need to discuss with the two of you."

"You said you wanted to talk about the smeeting. Isn't that something you should take up with Invader Tenn?" Zim plopped himself down unceremoniously.

Dib wasn't even quite sure what a smeeting was. He remained silent as he took a seat.

"Under normal circumstances, I would, but this had more to do with Gazelene. See, I couldn't help but get the notion that she has no idea why she was really brought here."

The two looked at each other uneasily.

"Well, yes." Dib spoke up on his sister's behalf. "This is a bit of a delicate matter when it comes to humans."

"Forgive me, Dib, for I do not mean to be heartless, but the smeeting season will be starting in about ten months' time, we do not have time to dawdle on such matters."

Dib wanted to ask what a smeeting was, but was cut off by Zim. "I'm sure we could wait until the next smeeting. Does it have to be this one? If we wait, she'll do it willingly."

"I'm afraid we cannot. Irken life is unpredictable. For all we know, we may be facing yet another battle soon. Impending Doom Two is coming to a close; we must be on our guard lest another planet try and set up a resistance."

Dib jumped up. It wasn't fair to judge Gaz by the same standards as the other Irken. She did not serve in the military; her survival rate was much higher. "Yes, but Gaz is not an invader. She shouldn't-"

Red held up his hand, demanding silence from both of the boys. "I understand that she is your sibling and you want to protect her, but duty comes before anything else on Irk. I've tried my best with your sister, but she does not seem interested. If she is to carry a smeet to term she has less than a month to select a companion unit."

Dib was too flabbergasted to say anything. Zim took this as his queue to wrap things up; he did not want to upset his tallest leader. "Of course my Tallest, everything will be taken care of." He grabbed Dib and pulled him out of their leader's office.

* * *

><p>"What is this smeeting thing? Why is so important that Gaz has a kid by then?" Dib asked as the walked down the hall.<p>

"A smeeting is when all the smeets for the next generation are born. It occurs once every ten years. To most Irken it's nothing big, but ever since Tallest Miyuki got rid of parenting units, it's been a huge deal to the caretakers." Zim actually had a rather relaxed disposition to the whole ordeal. Part of it was his lack of understanding to the human's methods for birthing and raising children.

"So why does she have to have a kid by then?"

"A smeet. She's having a smeet, not a smelly human kid." Zim pointed out with a laugh. For a human as smart as Dib, he was still kind of stupid; then again that was just his opinion.

"Well she's not having anything yet." Dib retorted. Everyone was already referring to Gaz as if she was already with child. It was kind of creepy. "Can't she have the kid after the smeeting? Humans don't have a set date to give birth. It's nine months after conception, regardless of date, season, position in orbit, or whatever determines the smeeting here."

"Ah Dib, refer to my previous response. If it's a smeet, it will be born with the other smeets. My guess is if she conceives too late the offspring will come out too early, leading to a defective Irken." No one respected a defective Irken. No one. Zim knew that all too well.

"That's just a guess. Are you really willing to force Gaz into something over a risk?" She might tear the eyes of that poor irken male out, scratch that, she _would _tear the eyes out of that poor male irken.

"Are you willing to risk a defect?" Zim paused for a moment, trying to come up with a good comparison. Dib probably didn't know about his status as a defect (not that he planned on telling him), so he would need a good analogy. "It's like the human children with the genetic disorders. Some are not bad, some are not even noticeable, but some are crippling. Irken don't take too kindly to that kind of thing. Anyone who cannot contribute anything to the cause is gotten rid of."

Dib let out an exasperated sigh. Why did he ever agree to this? Gaz was going to tear him limb from limb when she learned the truth.

"Well Dib-Stink, what is your plan?"

"Plan? What plan? This is Gaz' choice."

"You heard Tallest Red. It's her choice for the next week or two. Do you have a back-up plan?"

Dib suddenly stopped walking to stare out the window of the Massive. He didn't know what planet they were flying over, but it's blue color reminded him of the planet he had abandoned. Although Zim caused a lot of trouble for him, he knew his life would have been nowhere as exciting as it was without him. The Irken was the closest thing he had to a friend, even though there were times when he couldn't stand him. There was no one else he could turn to.

Zim had stopped beside him to gaze at the planet. He recognized it was planet Meekrob, the next planet to be captured in Impending Doom two. Since when was Dib interested in planetary conquest?

"Zim." Dib said softly.

"Yes?

"If worse comes to worse, will you be my back-up plan?"

"Excuse me?"

"Look Zim. As much as I despise you, I'd rather it be you than Red that forces himself onto Gaz." Dib wiped his forehead. This was too weird. He was asking his best friend to essentially rape his sister. "If worse comes to worse, can I rely on you?"

Zim raised his eyes in surprise. "If the Tallest want her to be with smeet, I'll do it." He had to admit, it was an odd request, even by Irken standards, but he would do it. It would be better that way. He knew the humans better; Tallest Red would not be able to handle a pregnant woman, not just any pregnant women, an angry pregnant Gaz.

"Thank you, Zim."

* * *

><p>Dib hummed to himself as he crossed another item off of the list.<p>

Earth seemed to be doing really well, much better than when it was not under Irken control.

The Irkens saw the television as an obstruction to society and promptly removed/destroyed all of them. They then banned the production of them, claiming it would distract the humans from their jobs. Many humans found themselves working in factories, producing snacks to feed the Armada. Of course, they did not know what the snacks were actually for, but some people were happy. Unemployment had been a serious problem, but now, all one had to do was find an Irken overseer and ask for a job.

Some people were able to keep their jobs, mostly medical professionals though. Anything that would prolong the life of the workers was kept.

Of course, not everything was all good. Most forms of entertainment were taken away from the humans to prevent distraction. The internet was shut down all around the globe in an attempt to prevent humans from banding together for a revolution. There was a huge raid on drugs to stop the humans from using them on the job and messing up or slowing down production.

Humans fought dearly for these, even going as far as to hide them in caskets of those who had killed themselves rather than serve another alien race, but it was of no use. Regardless of how good a hiding spot was, it was no match for Irken technology. They were soon found and destroyed.

Sometimes, Dib found the Irkens rather harsh. They had zero tolerance policy towards mistakes. If someone put too little sugar in a snack, they were immediately taken away. Rumors spread that they were killed; some said they were ground down to be put into the snacks. Dib laughed at the latter. He knew that those who failed were taken away for medical experimentation, which inadvertently led to death. In a way the first rumor was right.

People quickly shaped up when they saw what happened to others. Mistakes came at a minimum and the monthly quota for snacks always ended with a surplus.

Sometimes though, he missed other humans. He was assigned to the task of watching over earth, even though it was Zim's planet, as he was human and would understand most of what was happening better, but it still left him feeling a bit distanced from the rest of his species.

When people walked by, they would frown at him. The more daring ones would actually spit at his feet. He knew people referred to him and his sister as traitors, and in all honesty, it hurt just a tad. He was human, these people were of the same species, yet there they stood on opposite ends of the battle field.

Well, they got what they deserved! He spent years warning them of this and they chose not to listen. What more did they want from him?

Well, in a recent study he conducted, they wanted food, junk food to be precise.

It was decided that fast food, junk food, greasy food, or anything of that sort would be rationed. The ration was not in place because of a shortage, but because the humans were so appallingly overweight. It was disgusting.

If someone wanted fast food they would use their ration coupons, which were given on weekly basis, and get what they wanted. Of course, they would still have to pay. The Irkens had decided to keep the currency system since it seemed to push everyone to actually come to work.

Speaking of fast food, Dib turned to look for Gaz. She had walked off saying she wanted to get a pizza from Bloaty's Pizza Hog (as it was still open as a food joint). Zim had gone with her under the basis of her needing protection from the other angry humans.

Dib knew he was trying to keep his promise to him by at least trying to get closer to Gaz. Sometimes Gaz would acknowledge Zim's existence by responding to whatever he said, but other times she would get annoyed at being shadowed by him.

At least Zim was trying, that was all Dib could ask for.

Through all this, and all his problems, the humans' anger continued to boil and build because trouble began happening. It was the main reason he was here today.

Strange occurrences were taking place all over the globe. Factories would suddenly implode, killing everyone inside and halting production of snacks. People who actually supported the Irken take over began disappearing. Irken storage trucks would return to the Massive empty. Ration coupons for humans were being forged, and very accurately too.

No matter how much Dib looked into it, he simply could not find the answer. That's when he decided to set up a trap. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this was the work of some kind of resistance.

Since the targeted factories were essential to the massive, he had rumors spread that the factory in his old hometown was actually a number one producer.

Naturally, the unusual behavior picked there right away.

He knew the resistance would target the store houses, as you cannot make an output without an input, so that's where he decided to set up his trap.

Tonight, he would find out what was really happening.

* * *

><p>Dib and Zim pressed themselves against the wall behind a pile of supply crates when they heard the door to the storage room open.<p>

The door's beep indicated the person behind this had permission to enter. No one was scheduled to do a maintenance check at this time.

The two looked at each other in confusion. Whoever was behind this was Irken.

"Quickly, grab the metals; we won't need food this time around!" A female voice snapped. "I'll handle the little rats."

The two of them jumped out from behind the crates just in time to avoid vaporization as a beam shot right through the crate.

"No, it can't be." Dib said softly when he turned to see who was behind it all. "Tak? You're behind this?" He hadn't seen her since she had tried to get rid of the earth's molten interior. She looked exactly as he remembered her, not a single thing had changed.

"Yes. I'm going to be the one who rules this planet!" Her high-pitched static laugh rang through the cold metal walls of the building. "When I said the honor should have been mine, I meant it! Now I'm going to take this pathetic planet back, no matter whom I have to destroy." She pointed her vaporizer at Dib and fired.

Dib quickly jumped out of the way, pulling out his own gun and firing at Tak, taking care to avoid her squeedily-spooch. He didn't like hurting girls, even if they weren't human.

Knowing this, Zim jumped in front of Dib, throwing a calling device to him while he took over the fight.

The humans in the room had long since scattered, not wanting to be caught helping the underground resistance. Too bad for them, Irken soldiers had been waiting outside. They didn't stand a chance.

"We've caught the humans behind this." Dib said into the phone-like device, ducking another shot from Tak. "But there still seems to be a bit of trouble."

"We're directing reinforcements to you now." Responded a computerized voice.

Dib guessed he would have about ten minutes before they got here. Maybe he could talk some sense into Tak by then. With extreme precision, he fired his vaporizer at her hand, hitting her gun and reducing it to ashes.

Zim took the opportunity to jump on top of Tak, pinning her stomach first to the ground.

"Get off of me you lug!" She shouted in rage and panic. If the Armada knew she was behind the rebellion, it would be all over for her. Not to mention the humiliation she would have to live with, knowing she lost to one of the stupidest Irkens of all time.

"Tak, why did you do this?" Dib asked.

"Because I wanted to prove myself to the Armada!" She broke down in tears, knowing this would be the end for her. As soon as they arrived, she would be vaporized on the spot. The Irkens didn't take well to traitors.

"By going against them?" Zim asked in confusion. "Where is the logic in that?"

"There was none!" She snapped. "I was so enraged at the motherboard that I decided to sabotage her in any way I could! I just…" The rest of her sentence was incoherent due to her racked sobs.

Dib ran a hand through his hair. What was he supposed to do? It was kind of his fault Tak was stuck where she is now.

Zim didn't really know what to do either. Earth was his planet, as he had conquered it. It would look really bad on him if his planet had been infiltrated by another Irken Invader. He would quickly lose all the respect he had gained with his height.

"Tak, do you really want to rejoin the Armada?" Dib asked her as he thought it over. Maybe there was something he could do.

"I'll do anything." Tak said pleadingly, but cautiously. She didn't want to get her hopes up too high.

"Well I have the perfect idea!" Dib said. "Come here for a second." He grabbed Zim and pulled him off Tak, dragging him out of her hearing range. "Why don't we make Tak Gaz' bodyguard?"

"Bodyguard? Is your head full of hot air human boy? Why would Gaz need a bodyguard?" What a way to waste an Irken Invader. "I don't think Tak will settle for menial work like that."

"If she wants to live, she better settle for it. I don't think she's in any position to argue."

"Okay then, what if Gaz doesn't want a bodyguard? She almost slugged me today for being too close to her."

"I'm taller. She has to do what I say." Dib stated firmly.

Zim was rather surprised. He had never seen Dib demand respect from his height before. The human boy must have been serious about this. Still, Dib was forgetting something. "I am also taller than her, that didn't stop her from trying to pull my antennae out."

"Well, I'm her older brother."

Zim gave up. "Alright then. We'll propose it to Tak."

* * *

><p>Tak had been upset to say nonetheless. But what could she do?<p>

Once the reinforcement had arrived, Dib informed them that he was able to learn about the resistance from Tak, clearing her name from any trouble.

She owed him a life debt, she could not say no when he offered her the position as his sister's body guard. It wasn't all that bad. Dib and Zim and had explained Gaz' purpose to her. When she thought about it, the tall smeet that would be born would probably end up as a Tallest someday. She thought of it as guarding a future Tallest, instead of a human. Suddenly, the job didn't seem all that bad.

Once all the work had been sorted through, she found herself back on board the Massive. It was good to be home, living on earth really required a lot of self-maintenance. No robots or drones to help.

When she met Gaz, the only thing that had spilled out of the other girl's mouth was the phrase. "You again?"

Other than that, Gaz didn't seem to be bothered by Tak's company. She actually liked having another female around. It was a nice change from all the idiot men she was surrounded by.

Dib was just happy that Gaz took it well. After Red's threat, he realized he could never be too careful. Now all that trouble on earth had been resolved. Finally, he could kick back and relax a little before the real trouble came.

* * *

><p><strong>Yayz! I love Tak.<strong>

**Anyways, I know people are going to ask "Why Tenn?" **

**Well, it's because she's going to play a decent part in the story and most people would rather have a canon character than an OC.**

**You know it's true, so I hope you'll enjoy it. **

**Review Please!**


	5. Tough Choices

**I'll stop the world and melt with you!**

**I looked this up, so I have all the Resisty names right! Yayz!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Invader Zim or other relating characters.**

* * *

><p>Chapter Five: Tough Choices<p>

"Ready, Irken scum?" Lard Nar, leader of The Resisty, asked in a menacing laugh. "Let's play." Now he would have his revenge against those filthy aliens for conquering his homeland of Vort.

The other Resisty members stood behind him, cheering as the attack was launched.

* * *

><p>Red lights began flashing across the Massive, alerting all Irkens on board to prepare for a battle.<p>

"What's happening?" Gaz asked Zim, who was seated beside her with the second controller.

"It's a distress signal. One of the Invaders is in trouble." Zim quickly shut the game system off, grabbing Gaz and pulling her out of the room.

"Hey, what are you doing?" She demanded, pulling her arm free.

"We are going to the main hall, where the Tallest will tell us if we are attacking or not."

"Or not?" Gaz raised an eyebrow.

"Sometimes, there are some Invaders not with saving." Zim laughed. Irkens were so far away from the humans with their 'leave no man behind' militaristic strategy. Nothing said 'destroy me' like going after those who had been captured and were of no real value.

* * *

><p>The Irkens had all assembled themselves in an orderly fashion, awaiting orders, but up in the privacy of a closed room, the Tallest had already chosen who would go in for the rescue.<p>

In the drawing room with them were their newest human recruits, Dib and Gaz, along with Tak and Zim.

"Unfortunately, the Resisty is giving us trouble with Planet Meekrob, where Invader Tenn is." Red laid out a map of the planet, showing all possible landing spots and where the Vortian ship was hiding. "It is crucial that she returns alive. As Smeetery Director, we cannot afford to lose her, not when the smeeting is so close."

"So go in, get her, and destroy the ship with as many members of the resistance as possible." Zim stated. It was a pretty basic plan. The Resisty were not that well prepared or organized when it came to attack plans nor were they very intimidating. This would be a piece of cake.

"Exactly, but were going to use this opportunity to test your skills. The four of you have spent a considerable amount of time away from the Massive. Consider this a warm up for what might come later." Red handed each one of them a communicator. "Use this to keep tabs on each other." Now, for the part he was looking forward to the most. "Gazelene, your brother tells me you can break into any ship. I will send you with Tak first to sneak into the ship and shut down their power generator. Once the Resisty begins panicking, Zim and Dib will lead the Taller Ranks onto the planet to conquer it and take down the rebellion. During this, you and Tak will search the ship and bring Invader Tenn back _alive. _Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" Tak gave a salute.

Gaz nodded, knowing she would get away without a little display of respect. No point in going through the trouble if she didn't need to.

Purple stood beside his brother, watching but not taking part. Leadership was his brother's strong suit; he was only in on the Tallest deal because he matched his brother for height. If he had the choice, he would have never taken up the position. All the snacks he could ever want was a sweet deal, but in moments like these, it made him realize how it was not worth all the trouble and headaches. He really admired his brother for being able to handle this so well.

"Ready to go?" The sooner this was over, the sooner Red could return to his private unit and relax.

"Yes, sir!"

* * *

><p>Gaz and Tak's pod landed quietly on the outside of the Resisty's main ship.<p>

"Good, it doesn't look like they noticed us." Tak quickly grabbed her battle gear and threw the pod's glass cover open. This was rather exciting; it had been a while since she had been on a real mission, not a renegade one.

Less than ecstatic, Gaz followed behind her as they reached the garbage chute of the Vortian ship.

"We can sneak in through here, the Resisty should be centered at the front of the ship-" Tak looked over to see Gaz missing. Where was that human girl? Didn't she know she was on enemy territory? She couldn't run off the second she wanted to!

"Up here!" Gaz called to the much shorter Irken, who was still looking for her. Why should she walk through the smelly garbage chute when the idiots running this ambush had left the front door unlocked? Oh well, the Tallest would still be impressed, they didn't need to learn the real story.

"Oh." Tak's face fell into a frown of disappointment. This mission would be a lot easier than she thought.

"Okay, we're inside." Gaz spoke into her communicator.

From outside, still aboard the Massive, Dib and Zim prepared to make their move.

"Okay, I want the left half of the battalion to follow Zim out. Your job will be to surround the ship, preventing anyone from leaving the ship, or getting to asist. We want to take out as many members of the Resisty as possible." Dib took a breath. He could feel the sweat coming off his forehead from the excitement. He could feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins as he commanded the troops. Commanded troops! Someone was finally acknowledging his superior intellect.

Zim had been right; it was such a waste for him to remain on earth.

"The remaining solders will accompany me to the planet's central government building to conquer and destroy. We won't leave until we have complete control of Meekrob!" Dib was taken aback when the Irkens in front of him began applauding. He felt so relived, happy even, that they had not rejected him on the base of being human.

"Invaders, move out!" Zim called, launching the first attack.

* * *

><p>"Alright, how do we shut this thing off?" Gaz stood before a giant generator with an eerie yellow glow to it. Whatever it was running on, it was nothing found on earth.<p>

"This is a very simple design." Tak commented, waling all around the generator. Last time she had seen something of the like, she had been a smeet on board a ship as a part of her education. Who still used this obsolete junk?

Gaz thought for a moment. If this was simple, and these guys were alien, this might actually work. She took her canteen from her pouch. Of course, it was filled with water, as she was human and needed it to survive. Most Irkens were terrified of it, putting them in a state of awe whenever they would see her drink it aboard the ship. The Tallest had begun storing earth water on board the ship to use as a torture device for prisoners of war, but it also doubled as her and Dib's stash of life fluid.

She opened the canteen and splashed its contents all over the generator.

The generator began glowing and dimming before shaking and dying.

Looks like the Vortians did not know about water.

"Well, that works as well." Tak was genuinely impressed. Gaz was very resourceful for a human. She had spent much time among them, she knew how stupid they could be.

To confirm their mission, the lights went off as all the locked doors opened up, no longer able to remain shut due to the power outage.

Tak shook her head in humor and spoke into her communicator. "Power is out. Send the troops."

* * *

><p>Lard Nar looked up to the failing light fixtures. "What is going on here? Are Da Beez messing around with the power cables again?"<p>

"We're right here boss!" The spoke in unison behind his seat. For once, the power outage had not been their fault.

"Surrender, Resisty!" They heard a voice call from the Irken ship on their screen.

"What if we refuse?" Lard Nar asked defiantly. There was no way he would fall to the Irken scum, not after what they did to his people.

The screen went black. The Irkens must have run in fear at the sight of the Resisty!

"Those cowards are fleeing!" Lard Nar shouted to his followers. "Now we attack!"

The Resisty ran in a crowded mess to the front door of their ship. Finally, the chance to strike was upon them!

They all froze as the door opened. Standing in front of them was an Irken Sir Unit, more specifically, Gir.

"Hi, everybody!" The robot shouted. "Want to play? I brought you a gift!" Gir opened his head, removing and Irken detonator device. "Catch!" He shouted, throwing it to Lard Nar.

Lard Nar, recognizing what the green circular device was, immediately passed it to another member of the Resisty. This game of hot potato continued until the blinking red light gave out and it exploded.

Gir bounced around the room laughing, having not been affected by the explosion. "That was fun! Let's do it again!"

* * *

><p>Dib laughed as he watched the scene on the screen via Gir's eye circuits. Poor guys, no one should be left to deal with Gir on their own. He pulled out his communicator, connecting to Zim. "Wasn't that a little harsh?"<p>

"Are you kidding me human?" Zim's voice wafted over the device. "He wouldn't stop pushing the buttons on the ship; we had to get rid of him to have a safe landing."

"Just send the troops in to capture the rest of them. I'll see you on board the Massive." Dib laughed again. This was working out perfectly! Spinning around in the ornate chair, he put his feet up on the floating table in front of him. "Well Mr. Meekrob leader, it looks like it won't be long now."

Said leader sat in the corner, tied up with two Taller Irkens watching him, making sure he did not get away.

It was good to be in charge.

* * *

><p>Tak and Gaz found the ship's dungeon very easily, thanks in part to the maps hung all over the ship with the red 'you are here' marks letting them know if they were going the right way. It was good think Tak new how to read Vortian, or they might have actually had to search the ship from nose to bow.<p>

They ran through the open door, finally finding the dungeon.

They had to give the Resisty credit, they dungeon door still held shut.

"There must be a backup generator somewhere." Gaz looked over the room, not finding one. Oh well, she could always just drench the panel by the door.

They reached the last cell, finding Invader Tenn inside. She had been working on some mathematical equations, trying to figure her way out of the ship.

"Invader Tenn!" Tak called out to her in relief.

"Tak? Is that you?" Tenn recognized the girl from the days when the purple-eyed invader was still a smeet. "I haven't seen you in ages, not since the whole Dirt incident."

"Yes, but we can catch up later. We're here to get you out." Tak stood back, motioning for Gaz to get her out.

The purple haired girl splashed the panel with the last bits of water in her canteen, short circuiting the panel. She slammed her fist into the panel, pulling the cover off. Using her hands, she grabbed the wires and tore them out.

The prison door opened.

"Oh, thank you. You must be Gazelene!" Tenn remarked in excitement. Tallest Red had informed her of the smeet she should be expecting from the humanoid creature. She had never even seen a human before, it was very fascinating. "You're so tall!" She blurted out.

It was true; Gaz was more than twice her height.

"We've got to get going." Gaz felt the ship shake. Something must have blown up inside. "Now!"

* * *

><p>"We've got the Resisty!" Zim sounded via the communicator.<p>

Dib took up his. "We got the leader."

"I'm here!" Tenn called into Gaz' communicator.

"Head over here, Gaz, we'll give you a lift back to the Massive. Invader Tenn, you know where the government building is, right?" Dib voice came through the communicator.

"Of course! It is my planet after all." Tenn was in a state of elation. Not only had she been saved, but she had finally managed to conquer her planet. Granted, she had a little help, but the honor would still be hers.

* * *

><p>Gaz sat on the floor in front of Tenn, in some part of the Irken's lab, being examined, sending glares to her brother who stood on the outside. It was his stupid idea to have Tenn look her over. She wasn't five, she didn't need a doctor for one little cut.<p>

"My, you have five fingers!" Tenn said in excitement. "How does that compare to the Irken standard of three?"

"Uh…It's more?" Gaz couldn't really answer as she had had five fingers her whole life. What was having three fingers like? Couldn't be that much different, Zim never seemed to have any trouble on earth when it came to using pencils and forks.

Tenn had insisted she be allowed to give Gaz a check-up. She wanted to examine the girl thoroughly, and use the opportunity to learn about humans. If the girl was to carry a smeet, she needed to be healthy! Of course, the purple-haired girl had put up some resistance, but after some pushing from Dib, she eventually relented. "How are you feeling? Has that mission left you tired?"

"No, I'm fine."

Much to Gaz' surprise, Tenn grabbed her head and began turning it from side to side. The Invader then brought her face to Gaz' head and smelled her hair.

This was getting very awkward very fast.

"Can we do this later?" Gaz asked, not really wanting to sit through anything else Tenn might do.

"Sorry, dear, just got a little carried away. I haven't even introduced myself yet!" Tenn's antennae began wiggling. "I am Invader Tenn of the Irken Armada and Director of the Smeetery."

"Tenn." Tak whispered to the other female Irken. "Humans don't have antennae."

"Oh right." Tenn stopped wiggling her antennae. She instead held out her hand.

Gaz took it and shook it. It was so small compared to hers! "I'm Gazelene, but just call me Gaz."

"Well Gaz, it's nice to meet you. I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of each other."

"It's nice to meet you too."

* * *

><p>Dib stood with Zim on the other side of the examination, separated by some kind of a wall. The walls were all clear in the lab, so it was easy to see what was going on.<p>

Dib could not hear what they were saying, but he could tell Tenn was introducing herself to Gaz by the wiggling antennae. "So she's in charge of every smeet born?"

"Yes. She's had that position for a while now; she was director when I was born. She'll be in charge of Gaz and the smeet she'll have." Zim watched Dib. The time was running out, what would the human boy want to do?

"I guess I'll go introduce myself later." Dib leaned against the glass-like material.

"They'll be party after this. There's always one after a planet is captured."

"A party? You guys party? Or is this one of those formal events like last time?"

"It's more of an excuse to gorge on snacks, but yes, we party." Zim had to smirk, the boy was thinking about it again! He had that nervous look on his face.

"Damn it!" Dib slammed his fist into the wall, startling the girls in the other room. He waved an apology, grabbing Zim and walking out of their line of sight.

Zim followed behind him. "Well Dib, what are you going to do? You only have a few more days."

"When is this party?"

"Tonight."

Dib fished through his coat pocket, reluctantly pulling out two small white pills. "I got these when we had the drug raids on earth. If you slip it into Gaz' drink, she will fall asleep. Do it at the party tonight." He closed his fist around the drugs, wanting to throw them out into space. How could he do this to his own sister?

"Dib, you don't have a choice. You wanted to save you sister from a life of slavery under the Irken Empire. This is her only way out." As much as Zim hated Dib, he still felt a little sorry for him. Irken didn't have 'siblings' so he couldn't' understand the bond they shared, but he could tell it ran deep. Sorry, just a little sorry.

"She's going to hate me for this." Dib handed Zim the drugs before he could change his mind.

* * *

><p><strong>Before people start complaining, I want you to remember.<strong>

**The path to hell is paved with good intentions.**

**Review Please!**


	6. Partying

**The part everyone (surprisingly) came back for!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Invader Zim or other relating characters.**

* * *

><p>Chapter Six: Partying<p>

The party was in full swing as soon as Red and Purple finished their speeches. No one really cared about that part (except Zim), so it passed quickly.

The meal tables were being refilled as quickly as they were being eaten, as most Irkens took these parties as opportunities to fill up on carbs which would be converted to energy later.

Dib, who was really starting to grasp his power among the Irkens, cut to the front of the line. Everyone who was waiting was shorter than him, they dared not object.

The food looked so strange. He could easily recognize the junk food and snacks found on earth, but some of the entrees looked rather…interesting. There was a plate with the head of some alien creature on it. The others would pick up the knife, slice off part of the head, and devour it.

It must have been some kind of animal, kind of like eating a chicken or cow on earth.

Not wanting to risk upsetting his stomach by eating some foreign food, Dib reached for the nachos and hotdogs.

"You're not going to have any of the meat?" Zim asked, pointing to the head.

"No thank you. I'm trying to watch my weight." Dib joked.

Zim missed the punch line. "The Dib-Stink is getting a bit round at the waste." He nodded in agreement.

"Thank you, Zim." Dib rolled his eyes at his friend.

* * *

><p>Gaz sat at a table with Tenn and Tak.<p>

Tak was listening intently as Tenn explained the process which she used to blend in with the Meekrob; this would all be very useful when Impending Doom Three rolled around.

"There is a great risk of genetic mutation in the Meekrob, so appearance can differ greatly from one to the next." Tenn explained. "I was able to sneak in as an offspring of their kind. I padded my uniform to fit in with their bulky figure. The color of our skin was no problem when blending in, there were some green Meekrob."

"Really? So what about their food? Was it upsetting to digest?" Tak asked, taking a sip from her drink.

"I avoided eating their food. I instead stocked up on rations from Irk and sustained myself on those."

Gaz sighed, bored out of her mind.

The Irkens around her were stuffing themselves or talking about something she could care less about. A few of the shorter Irkens had given dancing a try. They tried to pull those seated to the dance floor, failing miserably. If they got too pushy, they would sometimes receive a swat to the head from their superiors.

As they came closer to Gaz' table, she gave them her death glare, quickly sending them away in the opposite direction.

She pulled out her Game Slave, trying her best to ignore everyone around her.

* * *

><p>"So Dib-Stink, how was your first taste at Irken combat?" Zim asked, cutting into the food on his plate.<p>

"It was alright." What else would it be?

"Alright? Was it not amazing? Are the Irkens not the greatest warriors you've ever seen?"

"Well, I didn't really see fighting. The leaders gave up peacefully when they saw how outnumbered they were. I think only your end had some bloodshed." Dib was kind of happy about it. He didn't want to see alien heads rolling on his first mission. It would be nice if he could slowly work his way to a more violent level.

"Ah, you're missing out then." Red took an empty seat next to Dib. "Irken battle is truly impressive. Perhaps you can get a demonstration sometime in the training facility."

"Maybe. I was thinking of training myself since I apparently need to lose weight." Dib elbowed Zim for his comment earlier that night. How dare he call him fat? His figure was just fine.

Red, not getting the inside joke, continued. "You should probably get acquainted with Irken weapons. You'll be dealing with a lot of them if you serve in the Taller Ranks."

* * *

><p>"Gaz, you seem bored. Is there anything you'd like to do in particular?" Tenn asked the human girl.<p>

"No, I just hate parties." She couldn't stand them on earth; there was no way she was standing them in outer space.

"Well, it looks like someone is here for you." Tak snickered at the approaching Zim.

Gaz cracked an eye open. "What do you want, Zim?" Couldn't he leave her alone for a moment?

"Would you like a drink?" He asked her, holding out a glass of soda to her.

She snatched it, happy to not have to go up and get it herself. She finished it in one swing, setting the glass down and proceeding to ignore Zim.

Zim hadn't left; he was still standing in front of her.

"What do you want now?" She growled, getting irritated with his presence.

"Care for a walk? These parties bore Zim. There are better things I could be doing with my time."

Tenn and Tak had broken into full out laughter at how ridiculous Zim sounded. Everyone knew he loved these engagements. Who was he kidding?

Gaz stood up to accompany him. Anything to get away from the party. "Fine, but no touching!" She recalled the time he had tried to put arm around her shoulder or the time he tried to link his arm in hers. He had to make a trip to the medical ward to have his arm placed back in its socket on that day.

* * *

><p>Dib watched the two of the leave the party to walk around the Massive. He knew what would happen next.<p>

Gaz would slowly develop a headache then start feeling dizzy. Zim would then offer to take her to her room, where he would force himself on her.

Dib shuddered. It was exactly like what would happen at the parties back home.

Funny, he brought her here so she wouldn't have to suffer through anything like that.

He felt sick. He needed to get out of here.

* * *

><p>Zim closed the door to Gaz' private unit behind him. The deed had been done.<p>

Knowing the strength of Irken DNA, Gaz should be pregnant by the next morning.

The girl would live now for sure, never having to risk being thrown off for uselessness, but what would she think about him? She'd probably try and claw his eyes out as soon as the drugs wore off.

It was kind of funny. After spending two weeks trailing after her, he was starting to get attached to her. She was everything admired in female Irken. She was strong, tall, and emotionless, never allowing her female instincts to take over.

Well, this probably screwed up any chances he had at her.

Still, he was a little excited. No one had sired an Irken since Miyuki got rid of the parenting units.

Perhaps being a father wouldn't be so bad. After all, any son of the great Zim was sure to be glorious!

* * *

><p>Dib lay on the floor, looking at the stars through the glass ceiling of the observatory. They were much brighter out here than on earth; then again, one spaceship wasn't enough to generate enough light pollution to black them out.<p>

He recalled going out to the country to see the stars with his father once. It was so long ago, Gaz had not even been born yet. Has father had been out working on some new super crops, leaving him to his own business, but Dib wouldn't have had it any other way. It was peaceful and cleansing.

If only the thoughts of his sister weren't gnawing away on his soul right now…

The door opened behind him, allowing Zim entry. "Somehow I knew you'd be here. You humans and your obsession with the stars."

"Well I'm sorry. It's not every day I get to fly so close to them."

"Actually, it is now." Zim sat down next to Dib. "Speaking of now, now what?"

"Now we wait for tomorrow. We can have Tenn check up on Gaz." Dib was surprised with himself. In this kind of situation, he would have probably been the one asking 'now what'. "We'll send Tak to keep Gaz company tonight, the drugs might make it hard for her to move around. Someone needs to be with her in case she needs something." Only time, and Gaz' reaction, would tell when would happen next.

"All we do is wait." Zim leaned back, lying next to Dib to stargaze.

* * *

><p><strong>Short, I know, but it will pick up starting from here.<strong>

**Review Please! Even if I don't get around to responding, I really appreciate all of your feedback!**


	7. It's Official

**Interesting reactions for the last chapter. **

**I know some people didn't like it, and I don't blame you! If you thought it was weird reading it, imagine how weird I felt writing it!**

**Still, I appreciate everyone's honesty!**

**But, it's not changing the course of the story.**

**Forward, march! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Invader Zim or other relating characters.**

* * *

><p>Chapter Seven: It's Official<p>

Gaz lay on the examination table in the medical ward with Dib sitting next to her and Tak beside him. She had told him to scram, but he insisted on being here, even after she had given him a gash running down his forearm.

Tenn ran a small pen-like device in circles around Gaz' lower stomach, humming a happy tune.

Gaz wanted to shout at her. How could she be humming happily in front of her? Was she totally oblivious? She had been raped for crying out loud!

Noticing his sister's anger bubbling yet again, Dib spoke up, interrupting Tenn's tune. "So, anything yet?"

"Almost, just a few more seconds." Tenn circled Gaz' stomach a few more times with the pen. "Look here." She pointed to the screen as she emptied the pen's data into the computer.

An image started forming. It was in black and white, just like a sonogram.

"Here." Tenn pointed to a little white dot on the screen. "This is the fertilized egg. Congratulations, Gaz. You're with smeet."

Gaz sat up promptly, kicking Dib in the face on her way up. "Where is that Zim? I'm going to tear his organs out to nourish this smeet of his! I'm going to make him wish he were a girl! I'm going to make him suffer, then I'm going to kill him, then I'm going to bring him back to life so I can kill him again!" It almost seemed like a dark aura was forming around her.

"Uh, Gaz." Dib patted her shoulder. "There's something I need to tell you. Something we all need to tell you." He could already feel the beating he was going to get for this.

* * *

><p>So the explanation went, finally revealing the truth to Gaz.<p>

Of course, she had been outraged. At everyone.

Everyone.

Dib had to hold her down so she wouldn't tear out Tenn's antennae.

Once she had calmed down, and agreed not to kill anyone (just yet!), Dib told her he had asked Zim to do it. He told her it was Zim or Red.

That or her life.

No Irken lived for free. Everyone had to contribute something to the Massive. Everyone, no exceptions. Gaz was contributing a smeet. She would get to live for it.

Knowing they did it to save her life helped a little, but she was still outraged. Why had they not told her before she agreed to join the massive? It would have saved her a lot of trouble.

"Do you understand though?" Tenn asked her. "This is very important to the Massive and to your survival."

"Yeah, I get it. Make sure the baby lives and Iive."

"Smeet." Tenn corrected. "It's going to be an Irken child, not a human child."

Dib cracked a smile, recalling the similar conversation he had with Zim about the offspring.

"It's going to take nine months for the smeet to come to full term since you are human. Don't worry though. As Smeetery Director, I'll be right here to help you through anything and teach you how to properly take care of a smeet." Tenn couldn't hide her excitement. The smeet may not have been hers, but it was still going to be special. It's been so long since she'd had a special project, just one of the many factors prompting her to take part in Impeding Doom Two.

Gaz leaned back on the table, sighing.

Great, a smeet.

She was going to be a mother at fourteen. Every teenager's dream. She simmered silently, letting everything settle in.

What's done is done. Besides, it was highly unlikely they would perform an abortion if the smeet would mean so much to them.

Her mind started turning gears.

There were other methods. Maybe she could 'accidentally' fall down a flight of stairs. Maybe not, Dib was probably going to have someone with her at all times. And there were no stairs up here; it was all transportation tubes and teleporters.

She missed being on earth where she could terrify everyone into listening to her. She still had a good amount of power here (as the average height of the Irken was a little under three feet), but Dib still had more. If he told someone to follow her and she told them not to, they would listen to Dib. He was taller.

Miyuki may have been tall thanks to her human-half, but they should seriously reconsider who becomes leader. Purple was an idiot, if anything happened to Red, the entire Irken population would be screwed.

"Gaz?" Tak asked, snapping the girl out of her thoughts. "Would you like to get something to eat?"

"Yeah, whatever." She hadn't had breakfast yet. Might as well simmer in anger on a full stomach.

* * *

><p><em>Pregnancy Stage: One Month<em>

There had been no physical change in Gaz yet. Her stomach remained flat, something she was happy about, and her appetite remained consistent.

Tenn had been happy to see the fetus hit the one month mark. The smeet's chances at survival were going up day by day. After spending a considerable amount of time on earth studying the human embryonic development, she felt confident she could help Gaz through this. Previously, her only knowledge with carrying smeet in the body came from a journal Almighty Tallest Miyuki had kept. She had written in it every day describing her pains, aches, and physical changes, but it couldn't be relied upon entirely.

Irken females carried children in an empty pouch found in the lower part of the squeedly spooch, a part which was dry and barren for most females today. Humans carried babies in the womb, an organ separate from their life sustaining brain and heart.

Gaz' pregnancy seemed to be a combination of both an Irken pregnancy and a human pregnancy. The smeet was growing in her womb, but the womb had filled with the green goo used to sustain Irken babies. The smeet developed at the same rate as humans, but did not develop all the parts a proper Irken child would. Irken babies were born with fully developed claws and teeth, but human babies developed these claws (which they called nails) and teeth after birth. The smeet's appearance was entirely that of Irken. As with most hybrids, one would never have suspected they carried anything aside from Irken DNA in them.

Gaz herself was getting used to the new predicament. She was used to having someone around her all the time and was finally coming to terms with the fact she was going to have a baby, or smeet, or whatever Tenn said it was.

Naturally, she was still furious at Zim and had been refusing to even give him a passing look, and when she did give him one, it was because she wanted to see where she was aiming her punch or kick.

The irritating alien had been keeping her company, even though she never spoke to him, thinking he could make it up to her.

As if.

Zim had already been sent to the medical ward twice thanks to her.

Still, he followed her around when he wasn't busy with earth, making sure she was comfortable.

Sometimes she felt bad for Zim (something she blamed on the hormonal changed caused by pregnancy). She always saw him hanging out with Dib or a few other Invaders here and there, but he spent a lot time with her. What a waste.

* * *

><p><em>Pregnancy Stage: Three Months<em>

Zim took his food and set it down on the table, taking the seat directly across from Gaz.

She didn't move or make any notion that he had joined her table.

"Off the table! Now!" Gaz glared at the few soldiers who were in the middle of their morning meal. They quickly scattered, not wanting to anger someone taller than them.

Zim watched them run off before turning back to Gaz. He wasn't leaving and Gaz wasn't tall enough to make him. "Feeling upset this morning?"

"Listen Zim." She reached over and grabbed the front of his military uniform, pulling him closer to her. "I'm going to forgive you for what you've done, only because someone is going to have to help me take care of this smeet! Got it?" She wasn't taking care of this thing by herself!

"I understand. You're choosing me as your love pig!" Zim proclaimed loudly, getting the attention of everyone in the cafeteria.

He still thought it was worth it when he was thrown into the giant pot of boiling stew.

* * *

><p><em>Pregnancy Stage: Five Months<em>

"Everything seems to be fine." Tenn said, removing her gloves. "Just make sure you eat a little more, you aren't gaining weight at a fast enough rate. Other than that you're good to go."

"Thanks." Gaz pulled her shirt down over her stomach, which now clearly showed. Finally, she could get out of here. Every time she had wanted to leave the ship, she would need a check-up to make sure the smeet would be okay, it was getting kind of annoying. They were blowing this way out of proportion.

"Alright then, let's go." Dib helped his sister up, not wanting her to have to strain herself. He had promised her he'd take her to Bloaty's Pizza Hog next time he went to earth. Besides, this trip would be good for her.

Tenn told him it would be dangerous to make long trips once the six month mark rolled around, so if he wanted to take her to earth, it had to be now.

Some trouble was springing up again with the resistances, forcing Zim to come along, so this would be a good opportunity for the two of them to spend time together.

Gaz was still prone to violent outbursts around her baby daddy, sorry, smeet daddy, but it never deterred Zim. He was confident he could win Gaz over and make her his companion unit.

They arrived on earth, landing the voot cruiser in one of the many landing pads that had been built around the planet.

As always, Dib helped his sister out. "Alright, I'm going to get this done as fast as I can. I'll join you guys when I'm done."

"Right this way, my dear." Zim held his arm out, intending for Gaz to take it, but she walked right past it, paying him no mind.

* * *

><p>Dib took his over coat off and set it to the side. It had to be over ninety degrees now.<p>

He had done all the standard procedures first (Checking the stock, looking over the factories numbers, etc.), now he could finally do some of his own investigating. The Irkens stationed here told him there had been some suspicious shipments coming in. When they had opened the crates they had found drugs, expired medications, and many of the other contraband human goods.

Where had they come from?

The boxes were unlabeled and untraceable, usually coming in with the standard shipment of equipment, food, and parts.

Someone had been messing with or intercepting the mail.

"I'll check with Zim on this alter." Dib told the Irken guard while scrawling his conclusion on the clipboard. "I think this is happening from another planet, not earth. You're dismissed."

The guard saluted Dib and returned to his post.

Great! Now that he was done, he could finally get some pizza and soda for himself.

Dib grabbed his over coat, throwing it over his arm, and left to find his Gaz and Zim.

* * *

><p>"Gaz?" Zim asked through a bite of pizza. He was only eating it because it reminded him of his days on earth, struggling to get by as a new Invader. He still thought it was disgusting.<p>

"What?"

"Can I touch your stomach?" It had occurred to Zim that he had never felt his smeet. He had seen other people place their hands on the stomachs of pregnant women to feel the babies kick here on earth. He wanted to know what it felt like.

"It's your smeet." She responded uncaringly.

Zim set his pizza down, wiped his hands free of the grease, and reached over to touch Gaz' stomach. He didn't feel any kicking at first, but after a minute, he did feel movement. The smeet must have been squirming around.

Suddenly, without warning, Gaz vomited. All over Zim's arm.

Zim pulled back right away, wiping the searing sick off of his hand. That was close; he could have had some serious burns. "Are you feeling ill?"

Gaz nodded, putting hand over her mouth. She hated it when she got these sudden bursts of nausea.

"Zim will find your brother, wait here."

* * *

><p>"Feeling better?" Dib asked, handing Gaz a glass of some Irken potion that was supposed to help with the nausea.<p>

She downed the glass. "Much. Sorry about ruining your day on earth." Because of her, Dib had to take them home before he had a chance to relax and eat some pizza.

"Don't worry about it. Zim's making it up to me." Dib laughed, finding it strange she had even apologized. It must have been the hormones messing with mind. "We're going to the bar that night and Zim is paying for everything."

"I'll be fine now. You can go with Zim. Tak will be here any minute now."

He wasn't supposed to leave her unattended, but Dib figured he could make an exception now.

* * *

><p>"And I'll be like, pow!" Zim clumsily swing his fist in the air.<p>

"You know, you talk like those beach girls when you're drunk." Dib slurred out himself.

"I so do not! You're the one that's totally drunk."

Dib laughed at having his point proven. "I didn't say I wasn't drunk." He took another sip from his cup only to find it empty. "We should probably get going now." No point in hanging around if there wasn't anything left to drink!

The bar drone watched the two Taller members try and walk out. They failed miserably. This always happened when people came in for late night drinks. Shaking his head, he typed in a message on the computer screen in front of him.

* * *

><p>Tak laughed at the message she had just received. "Your brother and Zim have gone and wasted themselves. We need to go pick them up."<p>

Gaz sighed and paused her game. "Let's go get the idiots."

"Gaz!" Zim threw his arms around her when she walked into the bar. "I've missed you so…"

"You're drunk, Zim." She pried him off of her. "And you're spilling your drink on my shoes! Tak, you drag my brother. I'll take Zim to his room." She grabbed Zim's collar. "Come on, you retard."

Tak stared at Dib, wondering how she was supposed to pull him all the way to his room. He was way too heavy. She's better call a few drones to help.

* * *

><p>"Slow down, Gaz. Dont'cha want to enjoy this?"<p>

"Zim, do you realize how late it is?"

If he did or not, she would never know. He just gave her a stupid smile.

"Here's your room." She took his hand and held it up to the bio-scan monitor. It read his print, opening the door for them to enter. She quickly let his form go on the bed.

"Wait!" Zim whined like a little kid. He grabbed her and pulled her into an embrace on the bed. "Stay with me."

"Zim!" She felt her anger rising. She had stopped her game for this? "Let me go, I want to go back to my room!"

It was too late. Zim was already unconscious, his arms still wrapped around her.

Gaz sighed, looking at Zim. Poor guy, through everything she had done, he still liked her. She had even thrown up on him today; she supposed she could let this go.

Just this once.

* * *

><p><strong>I always imagined Dib as a sad drunk, but it wouldn't have been very helpful here.<strong>

**As I said, ZAGR is very minor, so don't expect juicy details or a whole chapter around it. Sorry.**

**Review Please!**


	8. Preparing

**谁会说汉语吗？**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Invader Zim or other relating characters.**

* * *

><p>Chapter Eight: Preparing<p>

_Pregnancy Stage: Nine Months_

Gaz waited patiently as Tenn, who was practically jumping in her seat, printed the results of the gender sonogram.

They had waited this long to discover the gender of the smeet not because they had to, but because it had never crossed anyone's mind. Their biggest concern had been making sure the smeet carried to full term and that Gaz remained healthy.

It had only come up when Dib asked Gaz is she knew whether she would be having a son or daughter.

So here they were, gathered in the smeeting laboratory, about to discover.

Tenn quickly tore the paper out of the printer (being forced to use primitive human technology as the smeet was not growing in a computerized tube) and examined the results "Congratulations! It's going to be a boy!"

Dib and Zim high fived each other. They had been secretly hoping for a son/nephew.

Gaz rolled her eyes at their behavior. It didn't matter to her whether it was a girl or boy, she was just happy the smeet would be arriving soon. Being pregnant was terrible. She was constantly sick, her baby was an extra eight on her, and Zim and Dib would never leave her alone.

There was still some good in it.

She had been secretly developing a little bond with her child-to-be. She couldn't stop the birth, so she thought she might as well get used to the idea.

To be honest, it didn't sound all that bad now. She could raise her smeet to be just like her. It would be great. She would have someone whom could actually be a worthy challenger when playing video games.

"Just a few more days until the smeeting!" Tenn spun her chair around in a circle like a little kid. "How are you feeling?" She stopped in front of Gaz.

"Just a little nervous." Gaz had to confess. No matter how much studying and preparing she did with Tenn, nether could escape the fact that they were still unsure how the birth would work. Would the smeet chew his way through her womb like it did for Irken births? Would the placenta break, allowing the smeet to come into the world a human would?

They heavily depended on the latter. Gaz was human, she did not have the amazing regenerative abilities of an Irken. If the smeet chewed through the womb, who knew how much damage he could cause.

"It'll be fine." Dib reassured her, patting her stomach gently. He had no clue either, but he hoped saying it enough times would make it true.

Zim nodded in agreement beside him.

"Ah yes, while we're in the laboratory, I might as well give these to you two." Tenn kicked the bed, propelling herself to the computer keyboard. She typed in a code, unlocking the chamber next to the screen.

Inside were two paks.

Tenn reached into the chamber and removed the paks. "As you know, all Irkens need paks to survive, but the pak also doubles as a life extender. The two of you naturally have very short life spans; you'll be dead before you are able to serve the Massive properly."

Dib took the pak. This was not his first encounter with one, recalling the time he had taken Zim's and tried to conquer earth himself. "How does it do that?"

"The aging process between Irkens and Humans are the same. The cells replicate, get weaker, then die, killing the organism they are supporting with them. The pak gives the cells artificial hormones and nutrients, allowing them to live much longer without weakening. You will still age, but a much slower rate."

"How long in the average Irken lifespan?" Dib asked. This was amazing; he would get to see some real changes in technology on earth. And evolution! He would get to witness evolution in humans first hand.

"Smeet born now a day can live up to a few millennia, three, four, sometimes five if they're extremely healthy. The life span usually increases with each generation as the paks are improved and upgraded."

"Wait." Gaz knew this couldn't be all good. "Won't the paks reprogram us?" She had to stop Dib that time he had Zim's, she knew exactly what they did to the human mind.

"Yours have been left blank. They will serve as a hard drive for your memories without affecting your personality or skills. As soon as you put it on, you will never forget anything. Memories will be stored as seen at the moment and can play in your head as if you were watching a movie." Tenn turned around and typed into her computer, pulling up diagrams of the specially created paks. "Don't forget the paks have the claws and air filters. You'll be able to breathe anywhere, regardless of the environment, even in space, with a pak."

"But we die if we take it off for more than ten minutes, correct?" Dib wondered if they had improved that feature since Zim had been a smeet.

"Yes. Unfortunately, the pak hooks up to your nervous system and takes over, practically replacing your brain. It sends and receives messages from all the organs in your body. Taking it off is the equivalent of removing your brain. It can be removed for short periods of time to charge without causing harm, but it gets risky after five minutes."

"How do you charge a pak?" Dib continued.

"You can connect it to any nearby computer or you can sleep. Natural sleep will also recharge your pak, but some Irken are so busy, they don't have time for sleep. They get a quick charge and resume their work."

"What happens if it gets damaged?" Gaz opened up hers, looking inside. She saw the robotic legs Zim sometimes used to walk.

"If it's not too badly damaged, we can repair it. If it gets completely destroyed, you die." Tenn had seen some horribly mangled paks. It was not a pretty sight to behold. "So don't let the extended lifespan make you think you are invincible."

"I like it. I'll take it." Dib threw off his over coat and shirt. He knew how to connect one; he still had the scars on his stomach from Zim's to prove it. He set the pak over the upper part of his spine, letting it drop onto his back. The pak quickly positioned itself so it was over his spine. He gasped as it punctured through his skin and muscle to connect with his nervous system.

As quickly as it had started, it was over. He now had all the benefits of owning a pak.

"Well, Gaz, what do you think?" He asked his sister, who was still had her pak in her hands. "Want me to help you get it on?"

"I don't know if I can spend that long with you idiots." She really wasn't sure if she could handle it. Millennia with her brother and Zim? No way.

"You'll live to see all the GameSlave models." Dib knew his sister's weak points exactly.

"Fine!" That was some good motivation to put up with the nitwits. "Just put in on."

Laughing, Dib unzipped his sister's dress from the back, pushing the folds aside so he could have a clear view of her back. He set the pak down above her spine, watching as it too moved itself into the proper position.

Gaz felt the metal enter her skin, wincing only slightly. She wasn't a sissy like her brother. "Is that it?"

"Yes. Your paks are connected, let's just check to see if everything's alright." Tenn pulled two wired from the mess of them hanging above the computer. She connected one to each of their paks, pulling up their information on screen.

Dib and Gaz could feel a tingling sensation running throughout their body, revitalizing them.

"What is that?" Dib asked, feeling his body get lighter.

"That's your pak recharging. It's also recharging your body." Tenn typed away some more. "Everything seems to be running fine. Make sure you tell me if you feel anything strange happening, okay?"

"Will do." Dib called out his robotic legs, using one to hit Zim on the side of the head.

"What do you think you're doing human-boy!" Zim put a hand over the bruise that was sure to form. Those legs were powerful.

"Sorry, just testing them out. I still need to get the hang of them!" Dib defended himself.

"I'm sure Dib-Stink, I'm sure that exactly what you were doing."

"We still have one more matter to discuss." Tenn interrupted the two before they could begin bickering. "I need to show you the pak specially designed for Gaz' smeet."

Another pak appeared in the open chamber, this one much smaller than the one Gaz and Dib had received.

"This pak has been specially programmed for leadership skills, more specifically for someone who will eventually become a Tallest."

"A Tallest?" Gaz raised an eyebrow. "You're asking for a lot aren't you? What happens if the smeet doesn't grow to be taller than Red or Purple? 6'8 is very tall, even for us humans."

"He just has the same programming, you're right that it doesn't necessarily guarantee he will grow to be that tall. The Tallest asked for the smeet to be programmed that way just in case."

"Their lazy and want to retire." Gaz stated, already seeing through their ruse. It was pretty obvious none of them wanted their position. They were forced to take it when their mother had died.

"Yes, well, if your smeet is taller than them, he's taller than them. They'll get their lucky break." Tenn herself couldn't believe they'd want to give up a position of power like that. She'd want to be a Tallest for as long as possible.

"So how will this affect his personality?" Gaz asked, retuning the conversation back to the special pak.

"It won't affect it too much, maybe just a little braver and charismatic than the standard Irken. This one does not focus on personality, it mostly affects skills. Your smeet will have better control over his body and a faster processer for his brain. Because Miyuki was also a blank Irken, it's tradition to leave future Tallest candidates blank. He won't have any set requirements."

"Alright, then I'm fine with that." Gaz subconsciously rubbed her hand over her stomach. This smeet was really going to be something else.

"Everything's ready." Tenn stated, happy to have gotten a lot of the pre-birth work out of the way. "All that's left to do is wait for the little smeet to arrive."

* * *

><p><strong>It's funny how random things somehow manage to fit together when writing…<strong>

**Review Please! **


	9. The Birth

**I put GIR in here, because I keep forgetting to write him into the chapter! Oh no, not you, GIR!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Invader Zim or other relating characters.**

* * *

><p>Chapter Nine: The Birth<p>

Gaz laid her head against the metal bar of the bed frame.

Beside her were Mimi and Gir. She hadn't seen much of the SIR units during her pregnancy. Mimi was usually away on missions with Dib, seeing as Tak did not need him simply for bodyguarding. Zim thought Gir would have bothered and stressed her out, which was probably true, so he ordered him to stay away from her.

She kind of missed the little guy and his silly antics. It was fun to watch him irritate Zim, so she asked to him around.

Mimi was here because Dib didn't want to Gir to go overboard and ram himself into Gaz' stomach, so he sent the SIR unit over.

Sometime during their stay with Gaz, the two robots had fallen asleep. Once they were out, she figured she might as well fall asleep herself.

Unfortunately, for some reason, sleep just wouldn't come to her. It was mostly because her little smeet was kicking around so much, but that was never too much of a problem. She shouldn't have eaten all that sugar, her smeet was probably having a sugar rush right now.

She sat up, trying to relive the pain. He was really strong.

Thanks to the heightened senses of the SIR units, this small movement had woken them up.

Mimi tugged on Gaz' sleeve, a questioning look on her face.

"I'm fine, Mimi, I-" A sharp kick stopped her mid-sentence.

On second thought, "Mimi, go get Tenn for me." This was too much movement, even for a sugar rush.

"Do you want me to do anything?" Gir asked her with pleading eyes. He wanted to be helpful.

"Well, I don't really have anything else for you to do." Gaz patted him on the head, knowing this would stop him from having a crying fit.

"Okey-Dokey." Gir smiled. "I'll just clean up this water."

Gaz nodded to him. Wait. Water? She lifted up her night gown (as pants were uncomfortable this late into the pregnancy) to see her sheets wet.

Uh-oh. The smeet was coming.

"Gir, go follow Mimi. See if Tenn needs any help, okay?" She didn't want Gir trying anything stupid now. She was better off sending him on some meaningless errand.

"Okay!" The Sir unit ran off to find his female friend.

Alone, Gaz started breathing hard. No wonder the baby was kicking, he was trying to get out! Another sharp kick to the stomach confirmed her belief.

"Gaz!" Tenn ran in, still in her sleep wear. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but I think the smeet is coming."

* * *

><p>"Master, master, wake up!" Gir jumped onto Zim's bed, shaking him awake.<p>

"What is it, Gir?" Zim yawned. This had better be good.

"Gaz' is having a smeet!" Gir danced around happily.

"Yes, Gir, I know." Zim put his head back down on his pillow.

"She's having a smeet right now!" Gir started shaking Zim harder.

"Now?" Zim shot up.

"Duh, silly! I'm supposed to tell Tenn! Oopsie!" Gir ran out of the room, heading in the opposite direction of Tenn's sleeping quarters.

* * *

><p>When Zim arrived at Gaz' room, Dib was already waiting outside.<p>

"We can't go in, Zim." Dib grabbed his arm, preventing him from entering. "Tenn says there are too many people in there already. It will only stress Gaz out."

Zim frowned, but complied. If it would make it easier for Gaz then he didn't really have a choice. "So how long it been going on?"

"I'd say a half hour." Dib guessed. By the time Tak had gotten him, Tenn had already been inside.

"How long does birth take for humans?"

"Well, there are some rare cases where the child is out in about an hour and some cases where it takes almost two days."

"Two days?" Zim knew it took a while, but that was just ridiculous. Who could put up with that much pain for so long?

"Like I said, it's only in rare cases."

* * *

><p>Tak wiped a cool cloth across Gaz' forehead, trying to keep the girl's temperature down. "How does it look?" She asked Tenn.<p>

"We're going to have to cut you open Gaz. Your womb is surrounded by the protective layer found in Irken placentas, but your smeet doesn't have claws or teeth, he can't get out. I'm going to put you under and cut him out, okay?"

"Okay, just hurry!" Gaz shouted. The pain was too much! Her smeet was going to kill her trying to find a way out.

Tenn pulled a syringe out of her medical kit. Gaz was human; she would only need a very small dose to put her to sleep. She found the vein in her arm and pushed the needle through.

Slowly, Gaz began getting drowsy. One minute later, she was out cold.

"Tak, I need you to run to the medical ward and get a nurse drone. Have the drone bring surgical and sterilizing tools." Tenn ordered as she positioned Gaz for surgery. "We're beginning the operation now!"

* * *

><p>Seeing Tak run in and out was, least to say, unnerving for the soon-to-be further.<p>

Noticing Zim's growing distress, Dib did his best to distract his friend. "So, are you ready to be a, what do you call it, parenting unit?"

Zim looked over with mirth. "Since when did you refer to parents as parenting units?"

"Well, that is what they are called here, or at least they were. What happened? Why did Miyuki get rid of parenting units?"

"Well, it was a distraction to Irken soldiers. Raising a smeet takes time, time that could be spent training. Also, back then, if a companion unit wanted a smeet, it would be formed by combining their DNA together, the same way a human couple would copulate. This didn't always yield desirable results as not everyone held desirable genes. If two drones combined their DNA, you'd just end up with another drone."

"So she used selective reproduction to get the best genes?" Dib had to admit, it may have been cold, but it was efficient.

"Having parental units also disrupted many smeets. Smeets are programmed at birth. Sometimes two military Irkens may produce an instructional Irken. Taking pride in their place on the massive, they try and sway their smeet to follow their own paths, even though he is not physically or mentally capable of doing so. It just leads to disaster."

Kind of sounded like his father's constant trying to switch him over from the paranormal to earthly science. He could see how that could be a disaster. "So how are smeet produced now?"

"The Smeetery Director, Tenn, looks over the DNA and finds the best combination. Then, she creates the smeet in a test tube and sets it in the incubator. The smeeting happens once every ten years because that's how long it takes for a test tube smeet to form."

"What happens if it matures too early?"

"You get a defect." Just like what happened to Zim. No one knew his secret, aside from the Tallest and Tenn. This type of thing was not shared aloud, but it was obvious in some cases. Most drones were defects, that went without saying. Luckily, even though he was a defect, he was still stationed as a scientist in his early days. Through this he was able to hide his defect status.

* * *

><p>Tenn carefully cut along the placenta. This took extreme precision or she would risk cutting the smeet. She wished she was more prepared for this, but caesarian sections were not common procedures up in the Massive, not since Miyuki's time.<p>

The nurse drone wiped away spilling blood and monitored Gaz' vitals. Everything seemed to be going fine.

Tenn pinned the placenta opened and reached inside. She carefully pulled the fully-formed smeet out.

It had an umbilical cord.

How strange, smeets usually absorbed nutrients directly through their skin. She cut the umbilical cord off and pulled the smeet's antennae. Most Irken smeet were shocked to life, but that didn't seem like a good idea for a hybrid.

Naturally, the tug had been painful, causing the smeet to cry out in pain. His lungs inflated as he took his first breath of life.

As soon as he was breathing, Tak attached the pak to the child.

Tenn quickly took all the measurements. Eleven pounds, twenty-three inches tall.

A new record, held previously by the current tallest.

"Tak, will you prepare a bath for our little tallest?" Tenn couldn't help but call him that. The smeet was huge! Most Irken smeet were born the size of her hand. This was one was only a few minutes old and he was already a third of her size!

"Of course. I'll tell the boys outside the good news."

Tenn applied some healing gel to the open wounds on Gaz stomach, allowing it to work its magic, sealing up the girl without the use of stitches.

She wiped the sweat off of her forehead. What a night.

* * *

><p>Tak walked outside, carrying the wrapped up smeet.<p>

Dib and Zim quickly stood up when they saw the bloody bundle in her hands.

"Congratulations, you're now a father." Tak pointed to Zim. "And you're now an uncle." She pointed to Dib. "We just need to give this guy a bath."

"You can use my bathroom." Zim spoke up. "Dib's is connected to the water storage."

Oh, that was right. Dib didn't want to burn his nephew on his first day in the world. "Does he have a name?"

"We had to put Gaz under to take him out, so we'll find out when she wakes up."

* * *

><p>Gaz opened her eyes slowly. No more pain, the smeet must have been out.<p>

She pulled herself up. "Tenn, are you there?"

"Right here, Gaz!" She called from the bathroom over the sound of a running sink. She was doing her best to make sure her hands did not make contact with the water. "Just cleaning up some tools! How are you feeling?"

"Fine. Where is my smeet?"

"Tak took him to give him a bath. I think they went to Zim's room. Would you like to join them?"

"Yes." Gaz had just given birth; of course she wanted to see her smeet.

* * *

><p>"Aww, the little guys likes it." Dib really wished he had a camera with him; his nephew was adorable, even if he was Irken.<p>

The little guy was splashing around in the green goo that the Irkens used to clean themselves. He had a hand in his mouth and another slashing the goo around.

"Can he speak?" Tak asked, running a cloth over the smeet's head to clean off the afterbirth. "Can you, little guy?"

The smeet continued to stare at them in silence.

"Maybe he's developing at a human rate." Dib proposed. The smeet had done so as a fetus, it would only be logical if he did so outside of the womb too.

"Actually, no."

The three of them turned to see Gaz and Tenn walk in.

"Mentally, he's developing like a normal smeet. Physically he's developing like a human. He can understand you, but he can't speak because the muscles used for speaking have not yet fully developed." Tenn explained. She knew this for sure, that was how Miyuki had developed. Miyuki couldn't speak in full sentences until she was three.

"Gaz, my dear, how are you feeling?" Zim asked, happy to see her okay.

"I'm fine. I want to see my smeet." She pushed Zim out of the way.

Dib moved aside from the tub, making room for his sister to take over the bath. "Have you thought of a name yet?"

"Well," Gaz sat down, taking the cleaning cloth from Tak. "I thought I'd name him Zid. Zim and Dib put together, so there is no argument over what I name him." Looking at her smeet, she realized he was rather handsome. He had her and Dib's amber colored eyes.

The two males laughed.

"Zid, I kind of like it." Zim stroked his son's head.

"We'll leave the two of you in peace." Tenn grabbed Tak and Dib, pulling them out of the room.

"Tenn, I want to play with me nephew now." Dib tried to reason.

"He'll be around tomorrow, I promise you. Let the two of them be, I read this is a big thing for you humans."

Dib sighed. "I suppose so…"

Zim wrapped an arm around Gaz' shoulder. "Gaz, I'm so happy you did this. I'm sorry it happened the way it did."

Gaz nodded, taking her son out of the tub. "Seeing this little guy, it almost makes up for it. Almost."

"You did well. I'm still here if you need me, you know."

Gaz used the towel to remove the goo from her son. "What do you think, Zid? Should I strike your father?"

Zim pulled away instantly when his son began laughing.

"I think that's a yes!"

* * *

><p><strong>I know Zid is such a stupid name, but seriously. Me and my friends wracked our brains and couldn't come up with anything better. Seriously. I wanted it to sound Irken. <strong>

**I bet someone else has used this name before me. Sorry, person! **

**That's why we write Fanfiction and not actual original novels, lol.**

**So I hope you guys liked it! **

**Review Please!**


	10. Baby Shower

**No internet for a week. Just kill me now!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Invader Zim or other relating characters.**

* * *

><p>Chapter Ten: Baby Shower<p>

As always, the Tallest took any opportunity to throw a party.

What better excuse than to throw one in honor of the tallest smeet born in millennia?

And that's how Gaz found herself staring at an invitation to her own baby shower, which by the way, no one had informed her they were throwing.

"It'll be fun!" They said. "Everyone's going to be there!" They said.

She sighed, dressing Zid in the clothes that were tailored to his measurements exactly. He certainly couldn't fit into the standard smeet wear thanks to his size.

All through the Massive, Irken were talking about it non-stop. Seeing Gaz, they wondered how she could not be jumping around for joy. They didn't understand that Zid was the standard size human infant, something she had been seeing for most of her life. It wasn't that big a deal for her.

"Don't look so upset Gaz." Dib said as he entered her room. "This could be fun."

"Oh yes, you're the one being swarmed by little aliens asking to have a look at your newborn child. I may not be a doctor, but I can tell that it's no good for a baby or smeet."

"That's just your excuse for not wanting to go!" Dib picked up his nephew, throwing him into the air and catching him. "Look how sturdy he is. Just one week old and I can already throw him around. If this was bad, Tenn would have put a stop to it a long time ago."

"Tenn is so busy with all the new smeets; I don't even think she's going to the baby shower." Lucky her.

"You just go get dressed; I'll take Zid and see where Zim is." Dib waved, walking out of Gaz' private unit with smeet in hand. "You look nice, Zid." Dib cooed to him as they walked down the hallway.

Zid giggled, grabbing hold of Dib's coat. "Hello, hello."

As soon as Zid had learned his first word, hello, he had been saying it all the time. Dib thought it was cute, especially when he would say it to the Irken who would come by just to see the tall smeet. It was a shame he would actually have to learn to talk when he already knew how to comprehend.

Dib typed in the code to Zim's room, as he couldn't use the bio scan, and entered. "Zim, you here?"

"Human, when did I say you could intrude in my room?" Zim shouted from the bathroom.

"When you gave me the code. Now, are you ready?"

"In a minute." Zim wiped his face from the cleaning goo. He couldn't even get ready in peace! He sprayed some of the liquid scent on himself and walked out of the bathroom. "Hand my son over."

"No way, I'm holding him now!" Dib turned his back to Zim.

Zid, thinking they were leaving, waved goodbye to his father.

"See how smart he is?" Dib teased. "He gets it from my side of the family."

"Please, human boy. He gets his superior intelligence from Zim!"

Without warning, Zid vomited all over the back side of Dib's coat.

"See, he gets that from you, human." Zim laughed. "Go find Tak; she might be able to find something new for you to wear."

Dib handed Zid over to his father, being careful as to not let the child's clothes make contact with the sick on his jacket. He proceeded to exit from the room. "Tak!" He shouted, spotting her in the hallway. "I need some new clothes!" Normally, he could have just gone to his room and changed, but these were not his standard clothes. They were formal Irken wear, which had to be specially designed for him and Gaz because they could not fit into the Taller waist measurements.

He himself had a royal blue jacket on with gold hemming and a gold Irken insignia on the back over some black slacks and a black shirt. Gaz was in a silver dress designed to look exactly like the Taller wear except for the waist, which had to be let out a considerable amount.

"What, why?" Tak turned him around to examine the damage. "This is too short notice to have anything else made!" She thought for a moment. "Come with me!"

* * *

><p>The Irken tailor stared at the jacket. It wasn't too bad. "I can have this cleaned for you in a moment."<p>

"Good." Dib sighed, not wanting to show up to the party in his normal clothing. "Tak, shouldn't you be getting ready? You're not even dressed yet."

"I'll be ready in a minute; it's you guys I'm worried about." From the past week, Tak was able to tell how much trouble it took to raise a smeet. No wonder Miyuki got rid of the parenting units, smeets really did take a lot of time out of your schedule. "I know Zid can distract you from your tasks, I don't want you all falling behind schedule."

"Tak, you worry too much. We're not smeets ourselves."

"Here you go." The tailor returned, handing the cleaned jacket to Dib.

"Thank you so much!" Dib put the jacket back on. "Come on, Tak, let's go."

* * *

><p>"Everyone ready?" Tak asked, straightening out her own dress. After some rushing from her, everyone was out and ready.<p>

* * *

><p>"Uh…Thank you." Gaz took the gift from the Taller ranking solider. She wasn't expecting any gifts. It had been strange. Everyone who had approached her so far had handed her a package or an envelope.<p>

"Congratulations on your birth." This solider was Taller than Gaz, so he did not bow like the shorter Irkens, but he did nod his head to her in respect.

"Tak." Gaz turned to her bodyguard. "Why are they giving me gifts?"

"Well, it's just tradition, I think. When Miyuki gave birth, everyone had presented her with gifts as well. Perhaps they feel it is appropriate to do so here as well. If the Irken is male, the gift will be fore Zid, but if the Irken is female, the gift will be for you."

"I see…" Gaz wondered what kind of gift Irkens gave. She was pretty sure it wasn't clothes or lotion or any of that kind of stuff humans gave each other. Maybe it was weaponry. She wouldn't put it past them to give a smeet weapons.

Gaz turned her attention to her smeet, whom was looking up at her with his big amber eyes. "What are you staring at, Zid?" She asked, not cooed. Gaz did not coo!

Zid grabbed his mother's shirt, using it to pull himself up from her lap and touch the top of her head. He then felt his own head, grabbing a hold of his antennae. Why didn't his mother have any? Was it buried under the fur on her head? He continued to pull at her hair in search of the missing appendages.

Gaz winced at having her hair pulled, but she didn't stop her smeet. If he was happy and not crying, she was okay with it.

"I think he's looking for your antennae." Tak laughed. The smeet kept patting the top of his head to make sure he wasn't imagining them. It was a rather amusing sight. "Sorry, Zid. Your mother doesn't have any." She tickled under his chin, making him laugh.

A short Irken shyly approached the group, unsure if he should wait. He wasn't tall enough to interrupt their conversation.

Gaz noticed him after a few minutes. "Well, are you just going to stand there all day?" It was getting kind of annoying. She didn't like having too many people hovering around her.

The Irken jumped. "Sorry, ma'am." He walked up to her and handed her an envelope. "Congratulations."

"Thank you." Gaz took the paper and handed it to Tak to set aside.

The Irken didn't leave. He was feeling a little bold today. "May I touch your smeet?"

"Fine." Gaz pulled Zid off her head and turned him so he was facing the stranger.

"Hiya, little guy. I guess you're not so little after all." He patted the top of Zid's head and stepped away. He gave a deep bow to Gaz. "Thank you, ma'am."

"No problem at all." She said monotonously. How many times had she heard the line 'he's not so little after all' today? A hundred? Two maybe?

* * *

><p>"Gazelene, darling, do try and cheer up!" Dib stumbled over to the round table Gaz and Tak were seated at.<p>

"Great, you're drunk."

"No, I just had a little to drink, I'm not wasted." Dib had just tripped, causing him to stumble; he only had one glass of the alcoholic beverages they served. Honest.

"Well, you're words aren't all jumbled up, so I'll let it go." She really didn't want to have to be the one to drag his wasted body back to his room.

"Gaz, would you like to dance?" Zim held his arm out to the girl, hopeful she would agree.

"Alright. I've been seated this entire time, I need to get up." Gaz handed Zid to Dib. She then linked her arm in Zim's, allowing him to lead her to the dance floor.

Zim placed his arm around her waist, wrapping his other hand around hers.

Gaz found it entertaining when Zim wasn't quite sure how to link his two fingers with her five. It only took a few seconds for him to get it, yet she still found it quite amusing.

"You're looking very lovely tonight, Gaz." Zim said as they moved gracefully.

"Are you going to try and flirt with me?" She asked with a smile, letting Zim know she wouldn't strike him tonight.

"Is it working?"

"Maybe."

"You know, I really mean it. You're the only human female I don't find repulsive."

Gaz smiled and leaned into Zim's chest. "I don't suppose you're going to ask me to keep you company for the night?"

"I don't suppose you'd have any quarrel with that?"

"None at all."

* * *

><p><strong>So here we had it, a little thing I wrote for fun, no real plot (which I warned about in the beginning, so no complaints please). Thanks for sticking with me till the end. I wish I could have written this chapter better.<strong>

**I'm surprised I posted this. I was going to scrap this, but decided against it. It was for writing practice, and I certainly got a lot out of it. **

**I hope you enjoyed it anyways!**

**Review Please! Just one last time!**


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